


Borderline

by dyiansobrien



Series: Harper Verum Series [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Denial of Feelings, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Lovers to Friends, Season 1, Season 2, Teen Wolf Season One, Teen Wolf Season Two, bisexual oc, teen wolf rewrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-17 18:46:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 50
Words: 149,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29476440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dyiansobrien/pseuds/dyiansobrien
Summary: [BOOK ONE OF FIVE] COMPLETEDHarper Verum agreed to help her best friends find a dead body a little too willingly the night before their first day of sophomore year. If she had known the consequences of sneaking out into the preserve, she would have kicked Scott and Stiles out of her house the second they showed up with hopeful grins. However, that didn't happen.Now, the three of them find themselves with a whole lot of drama on their plates on just the first day back at school. Crushes, enemies- some supernatural, some not. They all knew one thing for sure; after that night in the woods, nothing would ever be the same again.
Relationships: Stiles Stilinski/Original Character(s), Stiles Stilinski/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Harper Verum Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2165103
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

the whole point of fanfiction is that you get to play inside somebody else's universe. rewrite the rules. or bend them. the story doesn't have to end. you can stay in this world, this world you love, as long as you want, as long as you keep thinking of new stories.  
— rainbow rowell 

this was originally posted to wattpad in 2017, the whole series completed in 2020. this is book one of five. however, wattpad has been deleting fanfics as of recently so i've decided to back them up on here. thanks for reading!


	2. prologue

The alpha stood over Harper, its teeth bared as it growled, drawl dripping from its pointed fangs, over her trembling body. Its claws sunk into the ground beside her, and its nose visibly moved as it sniffed the air, as it sniffed her. Harper's heart was pounding out of her chest and she was sure if this thing was a more evolved version of Scott and Derek, it could hear it.

Harper bet it could even smell the sweat covering her palms, and hear her blood rushing around inside her body. She bet she reeked of anxiety. Harper bet it was feeding off of it. The Verum girl could tell it enjoyed the sense of power it got from having her pinned underneath it, so weak and so vulnerable. Like a dog with a new chew toy.

The teenage girl didn't want to be a chew toy. But with nobody to tell the big bad alpha off, there was nothing stopping it from biting her or scratching her or killing her. The tension was so thick as her chest heaved up and down, trying to control her heavy breathing. She almost wanted it to get it over and done with. She couldn't bare it anymore.

"Harper," it, or more like he, whispered against her ear, his head moving next to Harper's ear so she could feel his hot breath down her neck, causing Harper to push herself further into the ground beneath her.

Sharp pains from the rough floor scratching her back underneath her caused her to wince, but it was nothing like the pain the poor girl felt next. Harper had no time to comprehend that the alpha knew her name before the worst pain she had ever felt in her entire life came to her shoulder where her shirt had risen.

A scream erupted from the back of her throat, Harper's back arching up as the alpha sunk his teeth into her skin, hard enough for blood to start to pour. He growled slightly, his ears suddenly perking up, obviously hearing something, before darting off down the hallway.


	3. chapter one

Harper Verum's room was tidier than it had been all summer due to her intense procrastination skills. Candles were lit nearby as the teenage girl sat hunched over her desk, scribbling answers to the homework she had regrettably left to the last minute.

The brunette had her earplugs in, blasting The Neighbourhood at full volume as she hummed quietly along. Less than an hour ago her grandma had gone to sleep, so she had to be quiet. Although, Harper was ninety-nine percent sure her grandma could sleep through a hurricane.

On her list of things to do, homework was her last choice, which was why it had taken her all summer to even pluck the courage of pulling it out of last years school bag. Who even sets homework in the holidays? Mr Harris, that's who.

Harper finally finished, a sigh of relief escaping her lips as she dropped her pencil onto the desk and pulled her earplugs out, just in time to hear a thump come from downstairs. Her heart skipped a beat and she sat up straight, listening intently.

Quietly, she grabbed the strong cardboard packaging from a poster that had been delivered days ago, raising it above her head like a bat. Adrenaline flooded through her as she opened the bedroom door. Harper tip-toed down the stairs, eyes wide as she tried to adjust to the darkness.

A bang and then a groan came from the kitchen. Harper's hands began to get a little sweaty as she clasped the nearly-useless-weapon in her hands tighter, wiggling her fingers. The light in the hallway switched on and the brown-eyed girl yelped, reaching out and smacking whoever was in the doorway around the head.

"Ow! Ow, Harper, stop!" A familiar voice hissed before large hands wrapped around the dented poster packaging, yanking it straight out of her hands, "it's me, it's Stiles."

Harper blinked, a blush coating her cheeks when she realised it was just her two best friends: Stiles Stilinski and Scott McCall. They towered above her 5'1 frame, looking at her with wide eyes. Stiles was still rubbing his head where she had hit it.

"Why'd you hit me?" He whined.

The girl scoffed, "maybe because I thought you were trying to rob me?"

Stiles stared at her, squinting his eyes. "Touché."

"Why are you here anyway?" She folded her arms across her chest, raising a dark eyebrow at the two of them, "it's, like, eleven at night and my grandma is asleep."

Scott rolled his eyes, "Stiles wants us to go to the woods with him to find a dead body," he muttered.

The oldest of them all hadn't wanted to go out body-hunting, but when Stiles had turned up at his house and insisted, Scott couldn't say no. He'd thrown on a maroon coloured jumper and jumped in the Stilinski boy's blue jeep so they could meet their other best friend.

Harper's mouth parted slightly as she stared at them both.

"How do you know there is a dead body out there? What have you guys been doing when I'm not around?" She was half joking, half serious.

"Nothing, we swear," Stiles quickly replied, "my dad got a call. Two joggers found half a body and the police are out looking for the other half right now."

She pushed some fallen hair out of her face. "Well, if they're out looking for the other half then we don't have to. I need sleep, Stiles. Like, badly. Do you see the dark circles under my eyes?"

Stiles frowned, scanning the girl over. Her skin was almost clear, only the odd blemish, but just like she had insisted, there were slight dark circles beneath her warm, brown eyes. Nevertheless, he still thought she was beautiful.

"Those weren't there yesterday," he raised his eyebrows.

"The power of concealer," Harper couldn't help but smile a little, "I'm not getting rid of you two, am I?"

Both teenage boys shook their heads, playful smiles on their faces, too. The girl sighed and rushed upstairs to get dressed into more suitable clothes. She was sure to freeze to death out there in only her pyjamas.

Scott scoffed, hitting his other best friend playfully.

"Dude, you were totally checking her out," he teased him. "Why don't you just ask her out already? You've been obsessing over her ever since she moved here."

The boy with the buzzcut frowned defensively, "I was simply checking her face for dark circles like she asked."

It wasn't completely untrue, but he had taken his time admiring his long-term crush.

Before Scott could get another word in, footsteps quietly came padding back down the stairs. Harper jumped the last couple, landing almost silently as she tugged her yellow raincoat closer to her body, zipping it up.

"It's not rain-" Scott began.

"It will," she cut him off, "in fact, there's meant to be a storm."

Stiles sighed, "great," he muttered as the brunette slipped on her Adidas shoes and grabbed her house keys.

"Let's a go," Harper mimicked everyone's favourite Italian plumber.

Both boys groaned and she giggled, a bounce in her step as she left the front door. Stiles couldn't help but shake his head and smile at her.

Harper Verum would be the death of him.

☹☻

Less than ten minutes later, Stiles' iconic blue jeep pulled up outside Beacon Hills Preserve, the headlights illuminating the trees for a few seconds before switching off. The three teenagers clambered out of the car, already shivering from the cool air.

Harper quickly took the hairband off of her wrist and tucked her hair up into a messy ponytail as Stiles switched the flashlight on, lighting up their path. The brunette's hands retracted into her yellow raincoat, annoyed that she hadn't thought of bringing a pair of gloves with her.

"We're seriously doing this?" Scott thought out loud as he slammed the door of the jeep shut, causing the girl beside him to flinch slightly.

The hazel-eyed boy rolled his eyes. "You're the one always bitching that nothing ever happens in this town," he claimed, moving to walk beside Harper.

Scott frowned. "I was hoping to get a good night's sleep before practice tomorrow," he muttered, pushing a small tree branch out of the way as he followed behind.

Harper couldn't help the scoff that escaped her lips. "Yeah, okay, because sitting on the bench is so much hard work," she teased.

Stiles chuckled from the front- normally it was him making fun of their friend. 

The oldest sighed. "No, because I'm playing this year, "he paused, "in fact, I'm making first line."

Stiles didn't bother to turn around as he replied, "hey, that's the spirit, "his tone was drenched with sarcasm, "everyone should have a dream. Even a pathetically unrealistic one."

It was Scott's turn to snicker, "kind of like your dream of-"

"Shut it!" Stiles raised his voice, cutting Scott off before he could even finish his sentence.

He stole a glance in Harper's direction to see if she had noticed, but she was staring at her shoes and using a leaf to wipe some mud off of them. It wasn't really helping much. In fact, it was probably just smearing it further into the material. 

"Bloody hell. I shouldn't have worn these shoes," Harper wanted to cry at the sight of her brand new Adidas shoes. 

She had planned on wearing them for the first day of school tomorrow, but now they were almost brown instead of white. 

"What half of the body are we even looking for?" She tried to distract herself from the tragedy that was her shoes.

"Huh," Stiles paused as if he had just realised something. He laughed slightly, almost nervously. "I didn't even think about that."

Scott and Harper both shared nervous glances from behind him. 

"What if whoever killed the body is still out there?" She questioned, Scott also looking curious for this answer.

"Also something I didn't think about," Stiles admitted with a slight nod.

They began to climb a small slope, Stiles going first. Harper's hand dug into the loose soil underneath her, going straight up behind him. She mentally cringed at all of the dirty going underneath her freshly painted pastel blue nails.

Scott was panting from behind the two of them, struggling to keep up. It wasn't like Scott was unfit- in fact, he was perfectly healthy both physically and mentally, but he had had severe asthma ever since he was only an infant.

"It's comforting to know you've planned this out with your usual attention to detail," Scott wheezed. 

"I know," Stiles groaned loudly as he pulled himself up for the last time, getting to the top of the leafy slope.

He reached down and gently grabbed Harper's wrists, pulling her up almost effortlessly. The brunette smiled at him before turning around and helping Scott. Scott gave her a grateful look, letting her help him with the last step.

"You okay?" Harper asked worriedly, her eyebrows knitting together in concern as he panted, sending a quick nod in her direction to put her mind at ease.

Harper could be such a mum-friend sometimes.

"Yeah," he muttered before speaking louder for Stiles to hear, "maybe the severe asthmatic should be the one holding the torch, huh?"

He took out his inhaler and shook it. Scott didn't even get a chance to have a puff before Stiles was racing forwards, Harper and Scott following close behind less enthusiastically. Suddenly, Stiles dropped to the ground, pulling Harper down with him to lay on the leafy floor. Scott fell down on the other side of Stiles.

About fifty metres away, behind some trees, was a row of flashlights belonging to the Beacon County police. They shone their torches in all directions, the light emphasising the rain that was falling. Luckily the teenagers were protected by the thick layer of trees surrounding them, so they had yet to feel it.

A grin suddenly broke out on the Stilinski boy's face as he jumped up excitedly, grabbing Harper's arm and tugging her along with him. 

"Come on!"

Scott hissed their names, begging for them to come back as Stiles dragged Harper closer towards the police. He followed cautiously, not wanting to get caught by the police. His mum would kill him if she found out he was in the woods this late at night while she was at work.

"What the hell, Stiles?" Harper hissed, sounding strangely like his father, despite her English accent.

Stiles didn't have time to reply as he stopped in a clearing. His hand let go of Harper's arm when a large police dog came out of nowhere, barking right in their faces. The brunette shrieked, falling backwards and taking Stiles down with her.

A torch shone right in their eyes. Harper squinted, just about making out the face of an angry police officer. Despite spending all of her time with Stiles, whose dad was the Sheriff of Beacon Hills, she had never seen this man in her life.

"Hold it right here!" He commanded furiously.

"Bloody hell!" Harper held a hand to her heart, trying to calm down her breathing.

Scott quickly hid behind a tree, not prepared to go down with his best friends. He squeezed his eyes closed together, mentally cursing the spastic hazel-eyed boy for dragging them out body hunting.

"Hang on, hang on," the two teenagers on the ground had never been so thankful to hear the familiar voice of Sheriff Stilinski, "this little delinquent belongs to me."

The police officer raised his eyebrows. "And this one?" He gestured towards Harper who smiled sheepishly, sending Noah Stilinski a small wave.

He sighed, "her, too."

Stiles winced at the bright light shining in his eyes, pulling Harper up off of the ground with him. 

"Dad. How are you doing?" He awkwardly stood, trying to avoid any eye contact with the oddly calm man stood in front of him.

"So, do you listen to all of my phone calls?" Noah asked with a sigh as the rain poured down from above them, causing his hair to stick to his forehead. Stiles remained okay with his buzz cut and Harper had pulled her hood over her head.

Stiles shook his head, "no, "he hesitated, "not the boring ones."

The Sheriff just gave a nod in response. "I see you've dragged Harper out into this mess, so where's the other one?" He briefly turned his head around to see if Scott was there.

"Who, Scott?" Stiles laughed nervously, and Harper already knew that they were screwed if he was the one coming up with the lie, "Scott's home. He said he wanted to get a good night's sleep for the first day back at school tomorrow. It's just us. In the woods. Alone."

Harper realised how bad that sounded, her nose crinkling up as Stilinski raised his eyebrows.

Stiles began to stutter, "no, uh, not like that. We're- we're just friends. Best friends. Right, best friend?" He turned to face Harper frantically.

Rolling her brown eyes, she nodded, "yes, best friend." Her tone was laced with sarcasm.

The Sheriff shook his head, sighing as he turned his flashlight back on, pointing it towards the trees behind them.

"Scott, you out there?" He yelled as thunder rumbled in the distance, "Scott?"

Scott gritted his teeth from the tree he was hiding behind. He didn't reply, hoping Stiles' dad would give up and just take his friends home.

His wish was granted when Noah turned his flashlight off, turning to Harper and Stiles and sighing. "Well, kids. I'm going to walk Stiles back to his car and you, Harper, are coming with me. I don't think your grandmother is going to be too happy with you."

Stiles jolted as he spluttered, "what? No, dad! Let her off this time, it was my fault. She didn't want to come and I dragged her out here." 

Harper couldn't help but smile slightly when Stiles tried to defend her, but Noah still shook his head. 

"What kind of sheriff would I be if I let her off? I'm sorry, Harper, really. I'd want to know if my kid was out in the woods at night, too," he sighed.

Stiles sent an apologetic look Harper's way. She shook her head at him, as if to tell him thanks anyway. After Noah had practically forced Stiles into his jeep, they made it to his car and he began to drive them to Harper's house.

Noah didn't need to ask for directions to Harper's house since he knew exactly where it was. When Harper moved to Beacon Hills at age nine, she had immediately become best friends with Stiles and Scott. All of their parents had gotten along too until people started leaving and dying.

When Noah Stilinski pulled up in front of the small house, he climbed out of the car and met Harper by the front door. Sighing, he knocked the door. Less than a minute later the door opened revealing Harper's grandmother, Rose Verum.

The old woman squinted her eyes, as if not believing the sight in front of her. Her granddaughter and the Sheriff of Beacon Hills at her doorstep at midnight.

The brunette smiled weakly, her heart hammering in her chest. Her already-weak grandma just looked more defeated as she sighed, rubbing her forehead. All Harper ever wanted to do was make her grandma proud, but it felt like she had been failing a lot lately.

"Sorry to disturb you evening, Rose," Noah gave her a look, "I'm afraid I found Harper and Stiles running around in the woods."

Rose didn't even look at her granddaughter, causing the teenage girl's heart to break. She gulped as her grandma smiled slightly at sheriff Stilinski.

"Sorry about that, Noah," Harper's grandma sighed, "thank you for taking her home in one piece."

Noah nodded, "it's all part of the job, "he smiled slightly, "I'm guessing I'll see you soon, Harper. Have a good night, Rose."

Rose smiled back, quietly closing the door. Harper slowly put her dirty shoes in the shoe basket next to the door and hung her yellow raincoat up on one of the pegs. Slowly, she turned to face her grandma.

"I'm sorry, " the English girl looked down at her feet.

"Why were you out in the woods?" She asked softly, her eyes filled with worry, "is there something going on? Something I should be worried about?"

Harper shook her head quickly, finally looking up. 

"No, grandma," she insisted, "it's just Stiles being Stiles. He wanted to go out and help his dad and I went with him. That's all, I swear."

Rose nodded, "okay. We'll talk more about this in the morning, I'm too tired for this right now," she spoke, "I love you, sweet pea. Please don't ever worry me like that again."

"I won't," Harper reassured her, "goodnight, grandma. I love you too."

The girl squeezed the older woman into a quick, gentle hug before rushing up the stairs. As soon as Harper made it to her bedroom she ripped off her leggings and black shirt, throwing it into the corner of her room by her door. Sighing, she flicked off the fairy lights and flopped into bed, climbing under the covers.

Harper couldn't be bothered to change into any pyjamas, so her bra and underwear it was. She shivered slightly as her damp hair touched her bare back but she couldn't be bothered to dry it or put a shirt on. She pulled the duvet covers up to her face, warming herself up.

Her heart ached as she recalled the look on her grandmother's face. Upsetting her grandma was her least favourite thing to do. Even homework was better, now that she thought about it.

The worst part about disappointing her grandma was that she never yelled at her. Maybe if she yelled then Harper wouldn't feel so bad, but Rose was so sweet and kind that it made Harper wish she would just ground her or scream at her. That and her grandma was already so weak.

After losing her husband, her daughter and her son in law, she was left broken with only her granddaughter- but still kind and loving. She didn't bake or sew or dance anymore, she just worked and cooked and slept.

Harper's phone kept buzzing from her bedside table but she ignored it, too upset to reply to anyone. It was probably Stiles asking if she was okay, but she didn't feel like lying to him.

☹☻

When Harper woke up the next morning, she was still tired. She had woken up at six in the morning so that she could properly get ready for the first day of school. That meant showering, doing her hair and makeup, getting dressed, having a decent breakfast and talking to her grandma.

But the first thing she did was check her phone, obviously.

Stiles: hey are you home?

Stiles: is your grandma mad at you?

Stiles: why aren't you replyingggg???

Stiles: are you mad at me???

Stiles: I'm sorry Harper :((

(3) missed call(s) from Stiles

Lydia: what are you wearing tomorrow? <3

Scott: you good?

Lydia: wear the dress we bought last week or I will disown you. I'm not kidding.

Lydia: um, reply, bitch.

Scott: I need to talk to you and Stiles before school. URGENT. meet me by the benches near the main entrance.

Harper frowned at the last text message from Scott, suddenly feeling awful for not answering her phone last night. But she strangely felt worse for Stiles who was probably upset in case he had done something to upset her.

She decided to text Stiles back first.

To Stiles: omg I'm so sorry for not answering yesterday. im not mad i swear.

The brunette tossed her iPhone onto her bed before going to the bathroom. She washed her hair and her body thoroughly until she smelt like her fruity shower gel. Harper also shaved her legs, since she was apparently wearing the dress Lydia had bought her today.

Once she made it back to her bedroom, she dried her hair and curled the ends to perfection. Satisfied with the way she looked, she began to button up her casual black dress. After checking the weather app and seeing that it was meant to be cold, she slipped on a pair of tights, too.

"There was literally no point in me even shaving my legs," Harper muttered to herself, rolling her eyes, "six cuts and all for nothing."

Her phone buzzed.

Stiles: i'm glad. Do you want me to pick you up at eight?

To Stiles: yes please!

Harper then did her makeup- one of her favourite things to do. She decided against foundation since her skin was pretty clear, just adding concealer to the dark circles rimming her eyes. She did her eyebrows and some mascara before packing all of her stuff away.

07:53

Groaning, the petite female jogged down the stairs and grabbed her backpack which she had packed the night before. After making sure her homework from last night was in there, she went to the kitchen.

Rose sat at the breakfast bar eating her porridge happily. The radio played through the speakers behind her, playing old music from the '80s.

"Good morning, love," the old woman smiled as Harper grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl, taking a large bite, "will you be joining me for breakfast this morning or is Stiles already here to pick you up?"

Harper frowned, "he'll be here in a couple of minutes. Sorry, grandma."

Rose just nodded. "That's fine, honey. Can we just talk for a second, though? About why you were in the woods last night?" She asked softly.

The younger girl froze in her spot. "Sure..." She was hesitant.

Her grandma took a deep breath. "Does this have anything to do with your parents, sweetie? I knew there would be a time when you would feel the need to rebel-"

"No," Harper chocked, cutting her off, "it has nothing to do with mum and dad. Just a stupid mistake that will never happen again, I swear."

Rose's face slowly turned up into a smile. "Good." She gave a short nod. "Because there are lots of dangerous things in those woods, Harp. I don't want you to ever feel like you can't trust me. I love you."

"I love you, too," she kissed her grandma's head when she heard the familiar horn of the jeep outside, "I have to go now. I'll see you when I get home."

"See you," she waved.

Harper left quickly, shutting the door behind her and racing down the steps to the familiar blue jeep. Stiles was sat in the drivers seat, smiling as his best friend headed straight towards him. She climbed inside.

"Hey," she smiled sweetly, "thanks for driving me there."

"I always drive you to school, " the Stilinski boy chuckled, rolling his eyes as he started up the engine, pulling out of the drive and down the road, "like, every single day since I got the jeep."

"And every day since you got the jeep I have said thank you," Harper retorted, "it's called being polite, Sti."

Stiles squirmed at the nickname she had given him. If anybody else had called him 'Sti' then he probably would have insulted them or kicked them out of his jeep, but he couldn't help but think it was cute coming from her. It was what she had always called him, ever since they met when they were only nine years old.

"I can be polite," he replied defensively.

Harper giggled. "Sure. You're an arse to everyone apart from me, Scott and your dad, " she paused, thinking for a moment, "actually, you're kind of an arse to Scott too-"

"Okay, okay..." He cut her off, laughing slightly. "I'm an 'arse'," he mimicked her accent.

Harper slapped his arm lightly, smiling a little.

"So..." He began as he turned a sharp corner, not keeping his eyes off of the road. "How did your grandma react to you being out in the woods at midnight?"

The brunette sighed, "too well."

Stiles groaned, "lucky, I got an entire lecture on the invasion of privacy. Apparently, it doesn't look good when the Sheriff's son is running around a murder scene at midnight."

"I guess it doesn't," Harper hummed in agreement, peeling her eyes away from the window to look at her best friend, "we have, like, four classes together this year, right?"

"Right," Stiles confirmed, "English first, right?"

Harper nodded, "yep."

Stiles pulled up into the car park, parking his jeep at the very back. He claimed that if it was at the back then nobody could 'hurt it'. In his top five favourite things is his dad, Harper, his jeep, Scott and Star Wars.

He would defend those five things with his last dying breath.

The school bell rang as the two teenagers climbed out of the car, rushing towards where Scott had asked them both to meet him.

Everybody was buzzing around either anxiously or excitedly, sharing hugs with people they hadn't seen for ages, freshman huddling together in small groups.

Harper had never really liked the atmosphere of schools. It made her feel anxious for some reason.

After waiting for about a minute by the benches, Scott finally came over, putting his backpack and lacrosse stick onto the bench. Stiles grinned, moving closer to Scott who reached down to the bottom of his shirt.

"Did you ask us to come here so you could show us your body?" Harper raised an eyebrow, folding her arms across her chest.

Scott just shook his head, rolling the shirt half way up. On the side of his torso was a large bandage with blood seeping through it.

"Ooh!" Stiles went to touch it excitedly.

Scott slapped his hand away and Harper's mum-friend tendencies came out. She quickly grew worried, her brown eyes wide as she ran a hand through her hair.

"What happened!?" She asked urgently, "are you okay?"

Scott sighed, "it was too dark to see much, but I'm pretty sure it was a wolf." He reached down and grabbed his things off of the bench, slinging them over his shoulder again.

"A wolf?" Harper repeated, frowning. 

She could have sworn that there weren't any wolves in California. When she was eleven she had googled the state. The scariest thing they had were mountain lions.

Scott nodded while Stiles laughed. "No, not a chance," he told him.

A frustrated look washed upon the oldest boy's face. "I heard a wolf howling," he claimed.

"No, you didn't."

Scott scoffed, "what do you mean 'no I didn't'? How do you know what I heard?"

"I swear California doesn't even have wolves?" Harper spoke up, though she wasn't completely sure. She wasn't there, after all.

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, not for the past, like, sixty years." He confirmed the brunettes suspicions.

Scott's entire face fell. "Really?" He asked, even stopping in his place right in front of the stairs.

The McCall boy could have sworn he heard a wolf howl last night after he had been bitten. And when he managed to catch a glimpse at the animal, it had looked a lot like a wolf, too. He thought it was too big to be a mountain lion.

"Yes, really," Stiles repeated, "there are no wolves in California."

Scott gave a slight smile, lowering his voice. "Okay, well if you don't believe me about the wolf then you're definitely not going to believe me when I tell you I found the body."

Harper's eyes widened as Stiles jolted spastically from beside her, his hand moving to rest on Scott's shoulder as he grinned at him like a mad man. It was times like this that she contemplated why she was even friends with Stiles in the first place.

"Are you kidding me?" Stiles gaped.

"No, I wish," Scott sighed loudly, "I'm gonna have nightmares for a month."

Harper squirmed uncomfortably as Stiles laughed. "Oh, God. That is freaking awesome. I mean, this is seriously gonna be the best thing that happened to this town since..."

His hazel eyes automatically cast towards Harper, but he quickly stopped before he could finish his sentence. No need to ruin a perfectly good friendship, he had decided. Stiles just coughed awkwardly, his excitement dying down.

Harper's dark eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. She opened her mouth to ask what Stiles was talking about when somebody called her name.

Lydia Martin.

Most people thought Lydia was the bitchiest, most spoiled brat going; that she was heartless and only cared about popularity, but after one shopping trip with her in middle school, Harper had come to the realisation that Lydia Martin was a lot more than what met the eye.

For starters, she is incredibly smart. Harper always wondered how she was in top classes for everything. People said that her family paid for her to be in them, but she could probably quote the entire periodic table in three minutes if Harper asked her to. She's also a lot nicer to people that she likes. Luckily, Harper is one of those people.

"Harper! Oh my gosh, I haven't seen you in like a week," the strawberry blonde squealed, ditching the girl that she had walked over with to wrap her arms around Harper in a tight hug. "We need to go on a shopping trip after school someday this week for Jackson's party on Friday. You're still coming, right?"

The brunette nodded. "Of course, "she replied, "except I don't think I can do a shopping trip this time."

"Why not?" She raised her eyebrows, looking suspicious.

"I'm broke," Harper shrugged with a small smile, "In case you forgot, my job at the video store is minimum wage."

"Well, that's what friends are for. I'll pay," Lydia chirped, glancing behind the girl to look at Scott and Stiles who were awkwardly standing there, "are you sitting with me at lunch or these losers?"

Harper didn't like how she called her best friends losers but she ignored it, forcing a tight smile. "I'm sitting with them. Thanks for the offer."

Lydia didn't pay attention to Harper's clearly fake smile, shooting her one back before leaving, flipping her hair in the process. Harper turned back to her best friends and sighed, sending them an apologetic smile.

"It's okay," Stiles rolled his eyes before turning to Scott, "you're the cause of this, you know."

"Oh, yeah?" Scott hummed in amusement.

"Dragging me down to your nerd depths," Stiles muttered as the bell rang and the three teenagers began to make their way to class. "I'm a nerd by association," he claimed, "I've been scarlet nerded by you."

Harper snickered, shaking her head. Oh, how she loved her boys.

☹☻

English. Fun in middle school, but high school? Not so much.

It was literally just quote finding, Shakespeare, poetry, exam preparing, analysing extracts, all of the boring stuff that only edgy teens and teacher pets cared about.

Luckily, Harper had managed to get a seat in front of Stiles and next to Scott. It was a pain in the arse that she had to turn around to talk to Stiles every five minutes, but at least she was beside her other best friend.

"As you all know," Mr Bridge's monotone voice carried out across the classroom as he began to write on the whiteboard. "There was indeed a body found in the woods last night."

Scott turned his head to grin at Stiles who just smirked back. Harper, however, rolled her eyes, leaning forwards and resting her head on her hands. They were such boys, getting excited over a dead body.

"And I'm sure your eager little minds are coming up with various macabre scenarios as to what happened," Mr Bridge didn't turn around as he continued writing, "but I am here to tell you that the police have a suspect in custody."

Scott looked at Stiles in confusion, but he just frowned, holding his hands up to say he didn't know anything about his dad having a suspect. Harper studied the board, seeing that 'Kafka's Metamorphosis' had been written in capital letters.

She had to restrain herself from throwing herself out of the window right there and then.

"Which means you can give your undivided attention to the syllabus which is on your desk outlining this semester," e finished, giving everyone a smug look. 

He lifted a copy up from his own desk. The entire class groaned while Harper just simply let out a huff, picking up the stapled pieces of paper from her desk and turning the cover page. The room was completely silent as everybody began to read, the occasional page turn, sigh, or sniffle filling her ears as she forced herself to read the rubbish in front of her.

Kafka's Metamorphosis.

World War 2 poetry.

Exam revision.

End of term exam.

Romeo and Juliet recap.

The brunette had to pause at the fifth subheading, her head actually starting to hurt at the thought of having to study the crap that Shakespeare called 'art'. It was boring, super unrealistic, and she had no passion for it whatsoever.

This year was going to be great, she could just feel it.

Take note of the sarcasm.

About a minute later, the door quietly swung open as Principal Thomas entered, a tall girl nervously following behind him. She was very slim, her brown curled hair falling past her shoulders, her brown eyes darting around the room as she automatically looked for somewhere to sit. She was forcing an awkward smile, her hands playing with the thin blue scarf wrapped loosely around her neck. Harper thought she was really pretty.

"Class, this is our new student, Allison Argent," Principal Thomas introduced her, "please do your best to make her feel welcome."

As the principal left, Allison kept her head down and walked towards the seat behind Scott. She sat down and put her bag underneath her desk. Before Allison even had the chance to turn back around, Scott was sticking a pen in her face, causing Harper to frown.

What the hell was he doing? Is this his way of flirting?

Allison looked confused before a grin took place on her face. "Thanks," she smiled, taking the pen from his loose grip. How did he know she needed a pen?

The shorter brunette shook her head, turning back to face the front as the teacher began to talk again. "We'll begin with Kafka's Metamorphosis on page 133."

☹☻

To say Harper was glad when the bell rang for the end of the day would probably be the biggest understatement of the year. She was so glad to be going home. Well, after she watched Scott and Stiles fail at lacrosse, but whatever.

She walked over to Scott who was at his locker, rummaging through it. Across the hall stood the new girl, Allison Argent. Before meeting Scott, she decided she would talk to Allison first. Maybe even make a new friend.

"Hi, my name is Harper," the shorter girl beamed at her, trying hard not to intimidate her in any way, "did you move from far?"

Allison offered a shy smile. "Not really, only San Francisco. You're in my English class, right?" She asked politely, tucking a brown lock behind her ear from where it had fallen in front of her face.

"Yep," Harper confirmed, "did sir almost bore you to death, or was I the only one?"

Allison giggled, shaking her head. "Oh no, you're not alone." She moved her finger and thumb so they were only a tiny fraction apart. "I was this close to falling asleep."

Harper laughed just as a familiar strawberry blonde waltzed over, stopping right in front of the two girls.

"Hey, Harps," she acknowledged her friend's existence briefly before turning to the new girl. "That jacket is absolutely killer, "she admired. "Where'd you get it?"

Allison looked nervous as she replied, "my mum was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco."

"And you are my new best friend," Lydia pointed at Allison with a sly grin before smirking at Harper. "Sorry, Harps. Maybe you should have texted me back last night," she added sarcastically.

Harper rolled her eyes.

Jackson Whittemore suddenly appeared beside the strawberry blonde, wrapping his arm around her as she lifted her arms to go around his torso. Lydia and Jackson were known as the power couple at Beacon Hills High. They were the most popular people there.

He nodded at Harper and shot a wink at Allison before grinning at his girlfriend.

"Hey Jackson," Lydia smiled sickly sweet. "This is Allison Argent, she's the new girl. Did you know her mum was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco?"

The star athlete didn't reply, clearly not interested in this fact. Lydia began to talk about the jacket that Allison was sporting, something about the material. Harper looked around, suddenly very bored. She looked across the hall and saw that Stiles was now with Scott, talking to a girl named Harley who was in a few of her classes last year.

"So, this weekend, there's a party," Lydia mentioned as she dropped Allison's arm, now finished with the topic of her jacket.

"A party?" Allison repeated.

"Yeah, Friday night. You should come." Jackson invited her, his arm not leaving Lydia's waist as she leaned into him further. "Harper's going, aren't you, Harper?"

She gave a slight nod and Allison frowned. "Uh, I can't. It's family night this Friday night. Thanks for asking."

It was an obvious lie that Allison hoped nobody would pick up on. So far she hadn't made any friends at Beacon Hills High and she didn't really feel like mingling with a bunch of people that she didn't know at a party where there would be alcohol, and if it was anything like her old school, drugs.

"You sure?" Jackson pressed again. "I mean, everyone's going after the scrimmage."

"You mean like football?" Allison asked innocently.

Jackson scoffed. "Football's a joke in Beacon. The sport here is lacrosse. We've won the state championship for the past three years," he bragged.

The strawberry blonde stuck to his side giggled, moving his hair out of his face as she pointed out, "because of a certain team captain." She pecked his lips.

"Well, we have practice in a few minutes. That is if you don't have anywhere else..." Jackson hinted.

"Well, I was going to-" Allison began.

"Perfect," Lydia cut her off with a sickly sweet smile, grabbing her wrist. "You're coming." She insisted.

Allison turned to face Harper worriedly, only feeling comfortable around this girl. "Are you going?" She asked.

"Yeah, my ride home is on the team," Harper smiled comfortingly at the concerned girl.

Lydia rolled her green eyes. "He sits on the bench. You need to get yourself a car already, Harper. Now come on," she tugged Allison's wrist.

The brunette sighed, rolling her eyes and following behind them.

☹☻

Harper took a seat on the benches in between Lydia and Allison, pulling her phone out to send a quick text message to her grandma. Over the summer she had taught Rose how to text on her phone so that she didn't need to call her every time she needed to tell her something.

To Grandma: hey, grandma. won't be home until about 5. I love you x

Grandma: love u 2 xxxxxx

The pale girl smiled, switching her phone off and putting it in her coat pocket before switching her full attention back to the lacrosse practice happening on the field right in front of her.

Coach Finstock, either everybody's favourite or least favourite teacher, yelled from across the field to Scott. "McCall!"

Harper couldn't hear the rest of the conversation but mentally cringed when he chucked Scott a lacrosse stick with a larger head. She wasn't an expert at lacrosse or sport in general, but she knew what that meant. Scott was in goal.

Scott sucked at being in goal. In fact, he sucked at anything to do with lacrosse. Harper sucked in a breath, and although she wasn't religious, prayed for the best.

Allison squinted her eyes from beside Harper as Scott put his helmet on and went to stand in front of the goal, rolling his shoulders. Harper hoped he would be okay with his injury.

"Who is that?" She asked curiously.

Lydia glanced over in the direction Allison was looking in, finally tearing her gaze away from Jackson who was warming up on the field with the rest of the lacrosse team.

"Him? I'm not sure who he is."

Harper smiled slightly, "that's Scott McCall."

Lydia ignored Harper. "Why?" She asked Allison as she continued watching Scott.

Scott cocked his head to the side like he was listening to the conversation. Harper smiled slightly at him and he pursed his lips into a thin line, sending her back a nervous nod.

Allison looked away, shaking her head and smiling softly. "He's in my English class," she explained. "How do you know him?" She asked Harper.

"We've been best friends ever since I moved to here," Harper couldn't help but grin, fond of her best friend, "I can put in a good word if you'd like."

Allison quickly became flustered, not having any time to respond before the whistle blew loudly on the field. Harper turned her attention back to the game that was about to stop. Scott's head fell into his hands for a second until the whistling stopped, and then he stood back up.

Her mum-friend instincts quickly kicked in as she frowned, watching intently as the ball went hurdling from one end of the field to the goal that Scott was stood in. It hit him right in the centre of his helmet, the force sending him backwards.

Scott landed on his back, letting out a loud grunt. Harper winced, sharing a worried look with Stiles who was sat two benches down dressed in his maroon lacrosse uniform.

The lacrosse players on the field began to laugh. Someone yelled, "hey, way to catch the ball with your face, McCall."

Harper wanted to punch whoever had said it, but Scott was already back up on his feet, paying no attention to the boys, ready for another go. The next player ran up, cradling the ball in his net before shooting it.

Scott lifted his lacrosse stick, catching the ball with ease. The petite girl gasped loudly. Stiles quickly turned to meet her eyes again, disbelief and amazement written all over his face. Everybody was shocked, even Scott himself.

"Excuse me," she quickly muttered, leaving the two girls' and climbing over the next few benches until she was sat next to Stiles. "Um, what the hell?"

"I know," Stiles murmured, concentrating on Scott.

Everybody was even more shocked when Scott caught the next ball and the one after that. And the next one. And the one after that. And again. And again.

Scott was grinning from where he was on the field, a new found confidence on his face as he bounced on his feet, clearly ready to take on the world. Harper was happy to see him so happy. He deserved it.

But she was still highly confused.

Scott's happy expression didn't last long when Jackson pushed through the line of lacrosse players waiting to have their shot, clearly pissed at Scott for getting all of the attention. Harper nervously watched in anticipation, Stiles leaning forwards on the bench, biting his nails- one of his many nervous habits.

The captain of the lacrosse team cradled the ball in his net before taking a run-up. He jumped in the air before flinging the ball towards Scott, but Scott, almost effortlessly, moved to catch the ball. Stiles and Harper jumped up in their seats, both their faces showing pure amazement.

"That's our friend!" Stiles yelled happily at her, fist pumping the air. She laughed, nodding eagerly back at him before turning back to cheer on Scott further.


	4. chapter two

As soon as the game had finished, Harper was stood outside the boys locker room, waiting for a particular hazel eyed boy. She tapped her foot anxiously, biting her lip every time a minute went by.

It was already half five, the sun was due to set in half an hour. She promised her grandma that she would be home at five and she didn't want to break any promises with her anymore.

The door swung open, her two best friends walking out with grins on their faces.

"Finally!" Harper sighed. "Can you drop me off home now?"

Stiles nodded and they began to walk out the car park. As soon as they reached the blue jeep, she climbed inside, going over the seats and into the back. Scott sat in the passenger seat while Stiles sat in the drivers, obviously. Stiles never lets anyone drive his jeep. Not even his dad.

Harper began to daydream, only stopping when she looked out of the window and realised where they were.

"You've gone past my house, Sti." Her dark eyebrows knitted together in confusion, sitting up from where she had been leaning against the window.

"I know." Stiles nodded. "But we need to go and find Scott's inhaler. He dropped it when he saw the dead body."

Harper unlocked her phone to look at the time. Her heart almost dropped.

17:44

Not only was she late home, but she was probably now going to find the dead body that Scott had mentioned this morning. And not just a dead body- half a dead body.

There was no point in protesting. She knew Stiles wouldn't turn around now, not even if she pulled her classic puppy dog eyes and shed a few fake tears. He pulled up at Beacon Hills Preserve for the second time in the last twenty four hours and they all climbed out.

"Please make this quick. My grandma's already as disappointed as it is." Harper sighed, rubbing her hands together in the cold as an attempt to warm them up a little.

The two boys didn't reply as they began to walk through the woods, following the same trail as they did yesterday, until they got to a certain point where Scott began to lead the way.

Scott jumped into a small stream, the merky water spraying up his blue trousers and soaking through his shoes. Oh hell no. Harper was not repared to ruin two pairs of shoes in twenty four hours.

Stiles sensed her concern and hopped into the river, grabbing her hand. He guided her onto a fallen log, her hand gripping his hand tightly as she moved slowly across it. Harper almost fell, Stiles reaching out to grab her quickly.

She regained her balance, laughing slightly at him. "You were so scared for me." She teased him.

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Because you're my best friend." It pained him to say it and, for some reason, it hurt her to hear it.

Her smiled faltered, her heart sinking a little. She bit her lip, trying to ignore the sensation in the pit of her stomach. Surely she didn't like Stiles? He was just her best friend, nothing more than that.

Scott didn't seem to notice their moment, speaking once they got to the other side of the river, letting go of each others hands.

"It was like I had all the time in the world to catch the ball." Scott insisted. "And that's not the only weird thing."

Harper raised her eyebrows. "What could be weirder than you suddenly being good at something?" She joked.

Stiles snorted but stopped when Scott turned to glare at them. "I hear stuff I shouldn't be able to hear." He claimed. "Smell things."

"Smell things?" The boy with the buzz cut repeated in disbelief. "Like what?" He scoffed.

"Like the Mint Mojito gum in your pocket." He looked at Harper. "And you have some perfume in your bag."

Harper raised an eyebrow, knowing for a fact that she did have some body spray in her bag for when she did PE. Stiles, however, stopped, frowning.

"I don't have any Mint Mojito-"

Harper cut him off by moving her hand to the pocket inside his jacket. Stiles froze, his entire body shuddering slightly and his jaw going slack as she pulled out a single piece of gum. He couldn't believe how close she was to his chest.

I'm such a virgin. He thought to himself.

Harper's eyes were wide with amazement as she turned to Stiles. "Can I have it?" She asked while Scott shot them an 'I told you so' look and carried on walking.

"Knock yourself out." He replied, finally loosening up after his mini heart attack. "So all of this started with the bite." Stiles recalled as Harper stuck the gum in her mouth.

"What if it's like an infection, like my body's flooding with adrenaline before I go into shock or something?" Scott turned to face his best friends momenterially, a worried look on his face.

"You know what?" Harper spoke up, a teasing tone to her voice that Scott didn't seem to notice. "I actually think I've heard of this. It's a specific kind of infection."

Scott stopped, causing Stiles to, too. "Are you serious?" He deadpanned, looking her right in the eye. He looked so serious that she almost felt bad for messing with him.

Almost.

"Yeah, I think it's called lyncanthropy." She teased. Stiles grinned from beside her, trying not to laugh.

"What's that?" Scott breathed, frowning. "Is that bad?"

"Oh, yeah, it's the worst." Stiles joined in, much to Harper's delight. "But only once a month."

"Once a month?" He repeated, his eyebrows raised.

"Mmm-hmm," Stiles nodded. "On the night of the full moon." He began to mimic howling, causing Harper to burst out laughing and Stiles to chuckle as Scott shook his head, shoving him before starting to walk yet again.

"Hey," Stiles laughed, trying not to fall over from the push. "You're the one who said you heard a wolf howling."

Scott turned around, clearly annoyed now. "Hey, there could be something seriously wrong with me." He insisted.

"I know, you're a werewolf." Stiles faked excitement, growling.

Harper flicked his arm, smiling slightly as she warned him to stop. Stiles yelped, holding his arm and glaring at her jokingly.

"Okay, obviously I'm kidding. But if you see me in shop class trying to melt all the silver I can find, it's cause Friday's a full moon." Stiles continued.

Scott ignored him, stopping at a small clearing and gesturing to the ground. "I could have sworn this was it." He claimed. "I saw the body, the deer came running. I dropped my inhaler." He kneeled down and began to swipe the fallen brown leaves out of the way.

"Maybe the killer moved the body." Stiles guessed.

"Or the werewolf." Harper snickered.

Stiles laughed and Scott glared at her, ignoring her comment.

"If the killer did, I hope he left my inhaler. Those things are like eighty bucks." He continued to kick the brown leaves underneath his feet.

Harper casually glanced around, her heart stopping for a moment when she saw somebody standing there watching them. He looked a few years older than them and he was dressed all in black- even his hair was dark.

She alerted Stiles of his precence by tapping his arm. Stiles looked over and noticed the man. "Oh," he muttered, tapping Scott's shoulder.

Scott got up off of the ground and Stiles moved ever so slightly in front of Harper. The man didn't say anything for a second and his facial expression didn't change either. He looked emotionless.

He began walking over. "What are you doing here?" He demanded to know. None of us said anything. "Huh? This is private property."

Stiles hesitated, "uh, sorry, man, we didn't know."

Scott nodded, "yeah, we were just looking for something, but..." Scott could tell that he didn't care. The man raised his eyebrows. "Uh, forget it."

He pulled his hands out of his leather jacket and threw the white inhaler at Scott, who caught it with ease. He began to walk away without another word. Harper frowned. How did he know it was Scott's?

"All right, come on guys, I gotta get to work." Scott sighed, starting to walk away.

"Guys," Stiles stopped them from walking away. "That was Derek Hale. You remember, right? He's only like a few years older than us."

"Remember what?" Scott asked, confused.

"His family." Stiles replied as if it was obvious.

"They all burned to death in a fire, like, ten years ago." Harper recalled, feeling stupid that she hadn't recognised him in the first place.

Scott looked towards the direction that he had left in, but he was long gone. "I wonder what he's doing back."

Stiles just scoffed. "Come on," he nodded his head towards where we came from. "I wanna go home."

☹☻

After Stiles had dropped Scott off at the animal clinic and then Harper at home, he drove off, but not before sending a wave and one of his charming smiles. Harper realised how her and Scott would probably be dead without the lanky teen.

As hyper and awkward as he is, he's probably the glue their friendship. He holds all of them together.

Harper unlocked the front door and stepped inside, kicking off her shoes into the shoe basket. Just as she was about to lock the door, a cough echoed from down the short hallway leading to the kitchen.

Looking up, she saw her grandma stood there, a smirk on her face and her arms crossed against her chest.

"Has that Stiles boy finally grown a pair and asked you out?" She teased, causing Harper to almost choke on the air around her.

She let out an awkward laugh. "Grandma. You know Stiles and I are just best friends. That would be weird."

"Would it?" Her grandma asked, raising a thin eyebrow. "Because I saw the way you smiled at each other, even without my glasses on. He looked at you like... like how your grandfather did to me."

Harper's throat tightened at the mention of her recently deceased grandfather, only sending her grandma a short nod. Rose didn't seem sad as she mentioned him though, a dreamy smile crossing her face.

"Your grandfather was a hottie back in the day." She laughed, half wheezing. "And Stiles isn't too bad looking. Maybe if he grew his hair out he would be more my type."

"Grandma!" Harper laughed, jokingly slapping her arm.

It's not like the brunette didn't think Stiles wasn't bad looking. In fact, she knew Stiles is attractive. Very. Both him and Scott are hot, but she's never felt that way towards one of them.

Well... When she first moved to Beacon Hills she had the biggest crush ever on the American boy, especially when he helped her with her parents when she was twleve, but when she started to cope with the death of her parents, her feelings for Stiles went away, too.

And today she might have felt something again.

Grandma chuckled, "just kidding, honey. I put some left over macaroni cheese in the fridge if you're hungry. You can heat it up in the microwave. Unless you want to eat it cold like the weirdo you are."

Harper rolled her brown eyes. "I'm not weird. Left overs taste good cold," she insisted, a small smile tugging at her lips as she kissed her grandma's cheek and went into the kitchen.

She pulled out the plastic container with the macaroni cheese in it, grabbing a fork and sitting down at the breakfast bar. Harper began to eat straight from it, though her thoughts were clouded over the entire time.

Was her grandma right?

Did Stiles look at her like that?

☹☻

Friday quickly rolled around and Harper had managed to convince Allison to go and watch Scott play lacrosse with her. It wasn't hard really, all she said was "Scott's playing" and she was practically begging to come with her.

Whatever Scott and Allison have going on is cute. The new girl and the dorky, sweet guy has always been one of Harper's favourite types of couples. Plus, she had gotten to know Allison a lot more over the past three days and came to the realisation that she is one of the sweetest people ever.

Once they made it to the field, the lacrosse players were all crowding around Coach Finstock as he yelled a, probably, motivational speech at them. Coach then blew the whistle around his neck and the boys all yelled ethusiastically before running off to their places on the field.

Harper's eyes peeled off of Scott when she saw somebody else waving their arms frantically in her direction from near the benches. Stiles.

"Check your phone!" He yelled quickly to her, before a whistle was blown and the game started.

Harper pulled her phone out of her coat pocket, seeing a text message from Stiles about twenty minutes ago. Unlocking her phone, she read the small paragraph that he had sent her.

Stiles: I overheard my dad on the phone and you'll never guess what. the fiber analysis came back from the lab in LA and they found hairs on the dead body. animal hairs. and guess what animal?? A WOLF! FREAKING WOLF HAIR.

Her brown eyes widened a small fraction as she looked up, back at Stiles. He was now sat down on the bench two rows down, anxiously waiting for her reaction. Harper turned to face Allison, her mouth opening to speak when the taller girl cut her off.

"It's okay," Allison smiled sweetly at her. "I understand. Go sit with your boyfriend."

Harper spluttered, "oh, um, Stiles isn't my boyfriend. We're just friends,"

First her grandma and now Allison, all in one week. What was it with people thinking that Stiles was her boyfriend?

Allison frowned, "he's not?" She seemed a little dissapointed. "Oh. Well go sit with Stiles anyway."

Harper grinned at her, "thanks for understanding, Ally. Sleepover after the party tonight to make up for it?"

Allison giggled. "Sure. It has to be my place though. My parents don't really trust anyone in this town yet. No offense."

"None taken," She nodded. "See you at the party." She hugged her quickly before quickly rushing down the benches, gently pushing past people until she made it to her best friend. "Wolf hair?" She referenced his previous test.

"Yeah, my-" He stopped talking as a lacrosse player wiped Scott out, sending him straight to the ground with a loud thud. "Ouch," he winced.

When the player lifted his helmet the two teens immediately recognised him as Jackson. Honestly, Harper wasn't surprised. Scott just picked himself up again, causing her to smile slightly. Harper's eyes were wide with facination as he moved around the field effortlessly, cradling the ball in his lacrosse sticks net, doging in and out between other players.

She almost chocked on her own spit when he did a flip over two defenders, landing perfectly on his feet and shooting the ball so it hit the back of the net. Everybody began to cheer, screaming praise at Scott. Harper slowly clapped too, but not without a raised eyebrow. Stiles had the same look as her. They were both thinking the same thing.

Scott had never been able to do flips before- not without falling face first afterwards. And he hadn't even stopped for his inhaler yet. Not even a pant had escaped his lips.

"McCall!" Coach Finstock suddenly yelled from a few spaces in front of us. He sounded angry. "McCall! Get over here! What in the God's name was that?"

Scott rushed over to him, taking off his helmet and tucking it under his arm as an unsure smile crossed his face. Harper was a little confused as to why Coach was yelling at him, he had made a winning shot. Actually, a lot of winning shots.

"This is a lacrosse team!" Finstock glared. "What, are you trying out for the gymnastics team?"

Scott's face fell slightly as he shook his head. "No, Coach."

"What the hell was that?" His voice raised even further, his arms flinging out almost spastically as he spoke.

"I don't know," Scott hesiated. "I was just trying to make the shot."

"Yeah, well you made the shot. And guess what?" He paused for a moment before he hit Scott's shoulder, a grin taking place on his face. "You're starting, buddy. You made first line."

Scott studied the Coach in shock as if he was waiting for him to laugh and say it was a joke, but everybody on the stands stood up and cheered loudly. Stiles didn't move to appluad the tan boy on the field, instead he watched him with a solemn expression. Harper frowned too, leaning her head on the boys shoulder as she thought everything over.

☹☻

"Grandma," Harper laughed as the older woman moved to put some cheese in the cats bowl. "Archie isn't allowed cheese. Last time he had a funny tummy, remember?"

But it was too late now. The chubby ginger cat was already at the bowl, eating the cheese before she could take it away like last time. Harper sighed as her grandma giggled before returning to where she was cutting up the salad she was having for dinner.

"Are you sure you don't want dinner with me?" She asked sweetly, putting her cut up cheese into the salad. Odd combo, but it strangely worked. "I can make extra."

"I'm sleeping around Allison's, but thanks, Grandma." Harper gave her a kiss on the cheek before hoisting her bag over her shoulder. "How do I look?"

Her grandmother took a step back to look at Harper, a soft smile crossing her face. Harper already had her makeup on for the party, a dusty rose colour on the crease of her eyelids and a nude colour on her lips. She looked beautiful. She was going to put her dress on when she got to Stiles' house since she didn't want to walk in the cold.

"Stunning, sweet pea." Rose smiled.

"Thank you grandma. I better go now. I need to stop as Stiles' first. See ya."

Grandma rolled her eyes. "Fine, you go make out with your boyfriend and I'll sit at home with my salad." She joked, putting the small knife into the kitchen sink.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Harper claimed as she began to walk to the Stilinski household. It only took her ten minutes to get there and when she did, the jeep was the only car parked in driveway, meaning Noah wasn't home.

She didn't bother to knock as she walked through the front door, kicking off her converse and rushing up the stairs to Stiles bedroom. Harper gave a short knock, since you never know with teenage boys, before entering.

Stiles looked up, a look of relief forming on his face when he saw that it was her.

"Expecting someone else?" Harper asked as she chucked her bag onto his bed before sitting down.

"Scott. This is about him," Stiles explained. That's when she noticed the state of his bedroom. The usually semi-clean room had paper all over it, books open on every surface, his school bag spilling out in the corner of the room.

"About the show he put on today?" Harper asked as he nodded. She picked up a stray piece of paper from the bed. "'Werewolf symptoms'." She read out loud. "Are you serious?" She asked him.

Stiles nodded, "deathly." He insisted. "I'll explain everything when Scott's here. Which he should be in about-"

The two teenagers were inturrupted by a loud knocking at Stiles' bedroom door. Stiles cleared his throat before quickly opening the door, revealing Scott, who stood there with an easy smile on his face.

"Get in. You gotta see this dude." Stiles sighed as Scott obeyed, shutting the door behind him as Stiles continued. "I've been here since the end of school reading. Websites, books. All this information."

"How much Adderall have you had today?" The darker haired boy joked before tossing his backpack onto the bed beside Harper. He sent a nod and a smile her way, showing that he had acknowledged her existence.

"A lot," Stiles replied, sitting down at his desk chair. Scott grinned and Harper scoffed, rolling her brown eyes. "Doesn't matter. Okay, just listen."

"Is this about the body?" Scott asked curiously. "Did they find out who did it?" He took a seat down next to the girl, his hands clasped in his lap, his shoulder gently brushing against Harper's. 

Stiles turned his chair around to face towards them, papers in his hand. "No, they're still questioning people, even Derek Hale."

"Derek Hale as in the guy from the woods the other day?" Harper asked as Scott nodded along.

"Yeah, but that's not it, okay?" His hands made large gestures with the more fustrated that he got.

Scott laughed nervously, "what then?" He asked.

"Remember that joke from the other day?" Stiles asked. Harper instantly thought back to the werewolf joke. "It might not be much of a joke anymore."

Scott blinked, taken back. Harper was expecting it, but nevertheless she frowned too. Stiles groaned, "the wolf. The bite in the woods. I started doing all this reading." He spoke quickly. "Do you even know why a wolf howls?"

"Should I?" Scott asked at the same time as Harper replied. "Isn't it to signal its location to the rest of its pack?"

Stiles nodded quickly, "Yes!" He replied. "So if you heard a wolf howling, that means other could have been nearby. Maybe even a whole pack of them."

"A whole pack of wolves?" Scott spoke in utter disbelief, his dark eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

"No, werewolves." Stiles sighed, not as confident as he was before. It did sound kind of stupid coming out of his mouth.

His bedroom was thick with tension as Harper watched the new lacrosse player crane his neck, as if waiting for him to tell him that he was joking. He looked at her, "do you believe this?"

She just shrugged, "it doesn't sound completely unrealistic."

He turned back to Stiles, "are you seriously wasting my time with this?" Scott suddenly stood up, grabbing his backpack. "You know I'm picking up Allison in an hour."

"We saw you on the field today, Scott. Okay, what you did wasn't just amazing, all right? It was impossible," the hazel eyed boy explained, lifting his hand to Scott's shoulder, trying to stop him from leaving.

Scott looked down at the carpeted ground. "Yeah, I made a good shot." He muttered quietly.

"No, you made an incredible shot." Stiles grabbed the backpack from Scott's hand, throwing it back onto the bed by Harper. "I mean, the way you moved, your speed, your reflexes. People can't just suddenly do that overnight! And there's the vision and the senses, and don't even think I don't notice you don't need your inhaler anymore."

"Okay! Dude, I can't think about this right now." Scott raised his voi ce, becoming very annoyed quickly. "We'll talk tomorrow."

Stiles looked alarmed, "tomorrow? What? No!" He shook his head. "The full moon's tonight. Don't you get it?"

"What are you trying to do?" Scott yelled at Stiles, causing Harper to wince, her hand grabbing her jumper for some sort of comfort. "I just made the first line. I got a date with a girl who I can't believe wants to go out with me. Everything in my life is somehow perfect. Why are you trying to ruin it?"

Stiles sat back down in his chair. "I'm trying to help." He frowned, not bothering to yell back at him. "You're cursed, Scott. You know that the full moon will cause you to physically change. It also just so happens to be when your bloodlust is at its peak."

Scott remained eerily silent for a moment. "Bloodlust?" He repeated.

"Yeah, your urge to kill."

"I'm already starting to feel an urge to kill, Stiles." Scott spoke with so much seriousness that it was actually starting to scare both Stiles and Harper a little.

The boy with the buzz cut ignored him and quickly turned around, getting something from his desk. "You gotta hear this." He grabbed an old leather book and began to read from it. "'The change can be caused by anger or anything that raises your pulse.'"

He turned back around to face them. "All right? I haven't seen anyone that raises your pulse like Allison does. You gotta cancel your date." Stiles insisted, standing up. "I'm gonna call her right now."

Stiles moved towards the backpack, grabbing his phone. "What are you doing?" Scott asked, clearly done with the younger boy at this point.

"Cancelling your date." Stiles answered as he unlocked the phone.

The next few moments happened in a blur. Suddenly, Scott had quickly pinned Stiles up against the wall, yelling at him to give him the phone, his fist ready to punch him in the face.

"Scott!" Harper shrieked, jumping off the bed to grab his arm.

Scott moved quickly, yanking his arm away, angrily turning to face her. Her eyes widened in fear before he moved to lower his fist against Stiles chair, causing it to topple over with a clattering noise. He let out a loud grunt and in all of their years of knowing Scott McCall, they had never seen him this angry.

He began to pant as he turned to face Stiles who was looking at Scott emotionlessly, also trying to calm his breathing. "I'm sorry," Scott sighed as Stiles avoided his gaze.

Harper's eyes almost watered as she watched Scott stammer. "I gotta go get ready for that party," before grabbing his backpack and slowly leaving. "I'm sorry," he mumbled to both of them before leaving.

As soon as the door closed from behind him the brunette girl rushed towards Stiles, wrapping her arms around his body and planting her head against his chest, squeezing her eyes shut. He moved his arms to wrap back around her, his head resting on hers as he let out a sigh.

"Are you okay?" She asked him worriedly as she pulled him away. "Did he hurt you?"

Stiles couldn't help but like how she made a fuss of him as he shook his head. "I'm fine." He muttered before shooting her a grateful look.

The hazel eyed boy moved away from Harper to pick his desk chair back up again, pausing when it was on his side. She looked to see what he was staring at, her eyes widening when she saw claw marks dented into it.

"Oh my God," Harper whispered, turning to face Stiles. "We need to go and find Scott before he hurts Allison, or anyone else."

Stiles nodded quickly, "aren't you sleeping over hers tonight?"

Harper nodded back. "Yeah. Let me get ready in your bathroom and we can leave in five minutes. I'm meeting her at the party." She urgently spoke.

"Quick," he muttered before sighing. "Our best friend is a freaking werewolf."

☹☻

Harper went to the bathroom, slipping on a white mini skirt and a black long sleeved crop top. Since the skirt was high waisted, it didn't reveal any of her stomach. She slipped on her shoes, quickly looking in the mirror at her makeup for the last time.

Stiles had told her to meet him in his car so she grabbed her bag, putting her black wedges on and putting her old converse shoes back in there. She rushed down to jeep where Stiles was on his phone, trying to get a hold of Scott.

"Scott's not answering his- wow." He paused when he saw her and she immediately began to blush. "You, ur, you look great."

"Great?" Harper teased.

It was Stiles' turn to blush now. He scratched the back of his neck- something he always did when he was embarrassed or uncomfortable. Stiles' was the most single guy Harper knew, so every time she teased him the tiniest bit he got extremely flustered. It was cute- it gave her butterflies at the thought.

"No, more than that. Pretty. Ur, beautiful." He stammered.

"Stiles," She decided to put him out of his misery. "You don't have to compliment me." she giggled. "After all, we have bigger issues than your lack of wide vocabulary." She turned serious. "We need to find Scott."

Stiles suddenly straightened up, nodding with his lips pursed into a straight line. "Yep, of course, let's go."

It only took about fifteen minutes before they pulled up at Jackson Whittmore's house. Already the party was in full swing, teenagers even piled out in the front garden with the stereotypical red solo cups, talking above the loud music coming from inside the large house.

Stiles and Harper both climbed out of the jeep, shutting the doors behind them before meeting to stand in front of it. She sighed loudly.

"It's going to take us ages to find him." Harper looked towards Stiles who nodded. "And when we do find him what do we say? He's refusing to talk to you, he won't come home with us."

The hazel eyed boy bit his lip. "Didn't think that one through. New plan: blend in, watch him. If he does anything we can take him home. For now we don't do anything." Stiles instructed.

Harper gave a short nod, "okay. Let's do this,"

She grabbed Stiles' hand and began to tug him towards the house. If she got seperated from him then she would more than likely have a panic attack, and he knew that. He helped her with her panic attacks. He didn't mind holding her hand though, obviously.

Her brown eyes darted around as the two teenagers attempted to blend in. She tried to find either Scott or Allison, but both of them were nowhere in sight. The house was too full, people bumping into Stiles and Harper from left and right. Harper saw a flash of strawberry blonde hair and began to pull Stiles towards Lydia.

"Lydia!" Harper called, thankfully gaining her attention straight away. She turned to face her and smiled brightly. "Have you seen Scott or Allison?"

She cocked her head to the side in confusion, "Scott McCall?"

Harper rolled my eyes, "yes." she replied. "And Allison Argent."

Lydia shook her head, "nope. Sorry, hon." She took a step back to scan her outfit. "You look great by the way. Hot, even. Almost as hot as me," she flipped her hair and began to walk off through the crowd, probably to go and find her boyfriend.

Stiles looked shocked. "She's... something,"

Harper giggled, "tell me about it." She was about to say something else when she spotted two familiar figures dancing outside. "Look!" She pointed.

Stiles turned to look where she was guiding him to. Scott had his hands on Allison's hips, her hands on his chest as they gently swayed, grins on both of their faces. They looked so happy together that it almost made Harper feel bad for trying to get Scott away from her. Almost.

Scott turned his head in their direction and Harper quickly grabbed Stiles, letting out a squeak as she forced his hands loosely onto her waist, wrapping her arms around his neck. Stiles looked a mixture of surprised, smug, and worried all at once.

For starters, he was extremely excited to have his crush this close to him in such a romantic way, but at the same time, he was terrified of messing up.

"Act natural," Harper hissed at him. "If Scott thinks we're spying on him he'll get pissed."

Stiles gulped but nodded, his hands awkwardly moving to hold Harper's waist in a more natural way. She sent him a reassuring smile, helping loosen him up a little. His shoulders relaxed, his entire posture still a little tense, but much better.

Harper turned the two of them a little, swaying slightly to the music but standing on her toes to try and get a better look at Scott and Allison, who were still very much engrossed in each other. She relaxed herself, turning back to face Stiles who was watching her instead of them.

He couldn't help it. She was just so beautiful.

The content look on his face sent butterflies in her stomach, immediately alarming her. Not right now please, feelings.

His hazel eyes twinkled back at her, causing her to gulp. Harper's palms suddenly felt a little sweatier and she was getting anxious. Upon noticing this, Stiles frowned at her, about to ask her what was wrong when Scott suddenly pushed past some people by them.

They broke away from each other, now worried for Scott, who was wincing and panting. His teeth were clenched as he held his head, muttering something under his breath as he tried to leave.

"Yo, Scott, you good?" Stiles asked worriedly, moving forwards to put a hand on the other boys shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Harper frowned from beside Stiles.

Scott only ignored them, continuing to make his way down the hallway. Beads of sweat were forming on his forehead and he was in pain. Was he... transforming? Stiles and Harper shared worried looks before going after him.

Right as she was about to leave the house with Stiles, an arm gently grabbed hold of her wrist, pulling her back. Stiles didn't notice and carried on going. It was Allison. Harper forced a smile at her.

"Hey," she sounded a little upset. "You're not leaving are you? You promised me that sleepover."

"Oh," Harper hesitated for a second before thinking things through. If she stayed with Allison for the night then Scott couldn't accidentally hurt her. "Of course I'm not. I was just going after Scott. He looked sick,"

Allison nodded, "yeah. He said he would be back, but I guess not." She quietly spoke before shooting Harper a smile. "But anyways, why don't we go to my house? I have like three chick flicks already prepared and waiting for us."

As the two teenage girls stepped out onto the street she saw Stiles by his jeep. "You get a ride with Allison. I'm going after Scott, okay?" He told her.

Harper nodded, "be careful."

Stiles smiled at her before climbing into his jeep and driving off. She turned back to Allison who was talking to a man in leather. Oh God. Derek Hale. Harper walked over towards them and Allison smiled.

"This is Derek. He says he's friends with Scott?" Allison asked.

Derek shot her a look, as if warning her to keep quiet. An odd feeling inside of her told her that this had something to do with Scott suddenly becoming a werewolf, so she nodded quickly, not wanting to really find out what role Derek had in this.

"Good, because he's offered us a ride." Allison chirped, causing Harper's blood to run cold. There's no going back now. "Come on, Harper."

They climbed into the back of Derek's car and he went into the front. Immediately she pulled her phone out to send a text to Stiles.

To Stiles: Derek Hale is giving Allison and I a ride home. The weirdest part? He knew who Scott was and he told her he was his friend.

Harper sent the text, a minute later getting a reply.

Stiles: I don't trust him. Be careful.

Instead of replying, she shoved the phone into her bag. Only then did she notice how tense and awkward the car ride was. Derek didn't have any music playing so there was only silence as he drove.

"Take a left here," Allison instructed. "You can stop at the end of this road. Thanks so much for the ride."

Derek nodded, "sure." Was all he said before pressing a button next to him. Harper heard the click of the doors unlocking and realised that he had locked them in the whole time, as if they would try and run away from him.

Without a second thought she clambered out of the car behind Allison, shutting the door and watched as he sped off. Thank God he was gone. Allison turned to face Harper with a sweet smile.

"My mum is home. You don't mind, right?" She asked as they began to walk up towards her front door. Her house was way bigger than Harper's, and very tidy, too.

"Of course not." She shook her head, not seeing why it was a problem.

Allison opened the door and the smell of bacon filled Harper's nostrils. Allison called out to her mum and followed the short response that came after it, leading us to a kitchen.

A woman who Harper assumed was Allison's mother stood at the stove, bacon sizzling in a pan. She turned to smile at them and she took in the woman's appearance. She didn't look like your typical fun-mum, quite the opposite, actually.

She had firey short red hair, thin arched eyebrows, pale skin and beady blue eyes. Just standing in the room with her filled Harper with unwanted anxiety. The way she smiled at her was almost sinister.

"Hello, Allison." She turned to Harper. "You must be either Harper or Lydia. I'm Victoria Argent,"

She gave a small smile, "nice to meet you. I'm Harper."

Her mum nodded. "Would you like a bacon sandwich?" She flipped the bacon over in the pan.

"It's okay. I ate before I left," Harper lied. She wasn't really hungry anyway. "You should eat your bacon sandwich. I'll get changed into my pyjamas, if that's okay with you."

Allison nodded, "of course. I'll show you where my room is so that you can change."

Harper followed Allison out of the room, saying a quick goodbye to Mrs Argent. She lead her up to her bedroom where boxes filled the entrance of her door.

"Sorry, haven't really gotten round to unpacking yet." She sighed, moving a box away with her foot.

"That's okay," the shorter brunette told her. "Your room is cute."

Her bedroom walls were a plain colour, but there were paint swatches on one wall. Her desk had cute things dotted around it, her wardrobe doors open revealing her colourful collection of clothes, and her double bed was made perfectly. It was like your typical teenage girl bedroom. All that was missing was fairy lights.

"I'll stand outside the door while you change." Allison smiled before quietly closing the door behind her.

Harper changed as quickly as she could into her pyjamas. She sported a pair of shorts with loads of sheep dotted around them and an oversized jumper with small holes in the bottom.

Suddenly, the doorbell ringed throughout the house, and was quickly followed by frantic knocks to the door. Harper heard Mrs Argent sigh before the door swung open and a familiar voice filled the home.

"Hi!" Stiles Stilinski. "Mrs Argent. Um... you have no idea who I am. I'm a friend of your daughter's, and Harper, is she here? Is Harper here? Oh I look kind of crazy, um, really crazy, actually. You know what? Crazy doesn't-"

"Allison! Harper! It's for you..." Mrs Argent yelled, sounding somewhat worried.

To be honest if Harper didn't know Stiles then she would be worried too. Its not everyday some spastic teenage boy with ADHD turns up on your doorstep trying to convince you he's not crazy while asking to see your daughter and her friend.

Harper opened the bedroom door and Allison shot her a worried look before they both approached the railings of the stairs. Stiles' mouth fell open when he saw them.

His eyes widened and Harper watched as they visibly trailed down her body. Or more to her bare legs. Blushing, she moved backwards a little.

"Yes, Stiles?" Harper forced a smile through gritted teeth.

"It's your grandma," he blurted. "She needs you home. Like right now,"

Harper could tell he was lying, but she knew he probably had a bigger reason. She turned to Allison to apologise, but she was already shaking her head and forcing a smile. Ugh, Allison is so nice that she kind of wished she'd just yell at her to stop her feeling like such a crap friend.

"Go," she said softly. "We'll rearrange for another time."

"Thank you," Harper quickly gathered up her clothes before hugging her goodbye and following Stiles out to the jeep.

"It's Derek. Derek is the one that bit Scott and turned him into a werewolf. Scott ran out into the woods to look for you and Allison... but mainly Allison. No offence." Stiles rambled as he started the car and pulled out of the driveway.

"None taken," Harper sighed. "And let me guess, we need to go and find him?"

Stiles shot her a smile that said "yep" before making his way towards Beacon Hills Preserve. Honestly, Harper was so sick of this place. Only bad things ever happen here.

☹☻

They drove for miles all night, the only thing keeping them awake was the radio and the pointless conversations that they shared. The sun had come up about an hour ago when they were driving along the main road leading towards the woods, the two of them were currently playing a game of 'would you rather'.

"Would you rather- Scott!" Harper gasped, pointing at the shirtless figure walking aimlessly down the side of the road, holding his arm. "Is he hurt?" She asked worriedly as Stiles stopped beside him.

Scott opened the door and she took that as her signal to climb into the back. Scott climbed in beside Stiles and Stiles didn't even say anything, he just began to drive. Stiles was slightly mad that Scott hadn't believed him in all of the werewolf drama in the first place.

"You know what actually worries me the most?" Scott finally spoke up from where he was leaning against the door of the jeep.

"If you say Allison I'm going to punch you in the head." Stiles threatened him.

Scott groaned, "she probably hates me now."

"Ugh," Harper rolled her eyes. "I doubt that. But you might wanna come up with a pretty amazing apology. Or, you know, you could just tell her the truth."

"Yeah," Stiles continued. "Revel in the awesomeness of the fact that you're a fricking werewolf."

Scott shot Stiles a look and Stiles just shrugged. "Okay, bad idea." He slapped Scott's shoulder. "Hey, we'll get through this. You, me, and Harper. Come on, if I have to, I'll chain you up myself on full moon nights and feed you live mice. I had a boa once, I could do it."

Scott just scoffed and shook his head.


	5. chapter three

Yet another lacrosse practice was currently taking place on the field after school, and Stiles had forced Harper to go. Not that she would say no to him if he simply asked anyway. Over the weekend she had a lot of time to think about her current situation to do with Stiles Stilinski.

So apparently she might like him a little bit, which scares her. Harper always said that falling for your best friend is so clichè and only ever happens in the movies and the One Direction fanfiction that she used to read like two years ago. She thought when that stupid crush she had on him three years ago left that it was gone for good, but clearly, her heart wasn't done.

And her heart wanted what it wanted, so who was she to stop it?

Harper hadn't really spoken to Stiles or even Scott all weekend, she had another sleepover with Allison, this time without anybody inturrupting. Harper met her dad.

She wish that she'd been close with her dad before he died, but he was always way to engrossed at his work as a doctor at a mental hospital to really bother with her. She still loved him and missed him dearly, however.

Allison is pissed at Scott. More angry than she is upset, which is kind of understandable. He did leave without an explanation, stranding her at a party with kids she didn't know and no ride home. And then he didn't text or call her all weekend. What an idiot.

Stiles was actually on the field today, standing at the back of the line of boys waiting to take a shot at the goal. Harper sat down at the back of the bleachers, a notebook on her lap as she scribbled down notes for her history test coming up, watching her boys at the same time.

Coach Finstock blew a whistle loudly, "Let's go! One-on-one's from up top. Jackson, take a long stick, today. Attaboy."

The green eyed boy nodded, dropping his lacrosse stick only to pick up an even longer one. The whistle blew again and Jackson quickly jogged over to stand a few meters away from the goal. She guessed he was in defence, but with Scott's new werewolf abilities this shouldn't really be a problem.

Harper was wrong.

Nobody could get past Jackson, he threw them to the ground without a second thought, blocking every lacrosse player from shooting the ball into the net. And then it was Scott's turn.

The brunette hoped he would be different, that he would beat Jackson, but unfortuantly hope wasn't on her side this time.

Scott ran up to Jackson, or more like a quickly paced jog, but was tackled as soon as he went to lift his stick. He landed on the ground and Harper winced. Thankfully Scott got back up quickly as coach approached him, chuckling.

"My grandmother can move faster than that and she's dead!" He laughed loud enough for even Harper to hear at the back of the bleachers. Stiles and the petite girl shared a look of worry as coach continued. "You think you can move faster than the lifeless corpse of my dead grandmother?"

He was taunting him, making fun of him. Scott tensed up, not liking being made fun of in front of the other lacrosse players and everyone on the stands. What if he turned in front of everybody? That wouldn't be good. Not good at all.

Scott muttered something to Coach Finstock who then raised his voice. "Then do it again." He ordered. He patted Scott on the back as he jogged over to the front of the line. "McCall's gonna do it again! McCall's gonna do it again!" He yelled for everybody to hear.

This time, when Coach blew the whistle, Scott took off into a quick run, much quicker than before. And before Jackson could even move to tackle Scott, Scott had already taken him out, moving into him as hard as he could with his shoulder, sending the star lacrosse player to the ground with a loud grunt and a thump.

Jackson was rolling on the ground holding his shoulder, but Harper didn't care as she rushed onto the field where Scott had topled over onto his knees, panting heavily. Stiles made it just before her, his hands on his shoulders as he called his name in concern.

"Are you okay? What's happening?" Harper asked, moving her hands to his arms.

Scott panted, and it sounded like he had something in his mouth when he spoke. His fangs. "I can't control it. It's happening," he seethed.

"What? Right here? Now?" Stiles looked alarmed, looking around to see if anybody had noticed Scott. Luckily everybody was paying attention to Jackson. "Come on. Get up. Go!"

Stiles and Harper both quickly jogged with Scott off of the field and towards the school building. Stiles lead them all to the boys locker room, Scott falling through the door in the way in.

"Scott, you okay?" Stiles asked urgently, moving down beside me to help him.

Scott's head suddenly snapped up in their direction. His fangs had grown in and his usually warm brown eyes sparkled a golden, yellow colour.

"Get away from me!" He yelled so deeply and fiercely that Stiles fell backwards, taking Harper with him.

He reached behind him and grabbed Harper's arm, dragging her away from Scott as quickly as he could. He hid them behind a locker, trying not to cry. Suddenly a bang rattled from above them.

Scott was on top of the lockers.

The werewolf growled at them as Stiles tugged Harper left and right, doing everything in his power to keep them away from a very angry Scott. He cornered them like they were his prey.

Harper's heart pounded in her chest as Scott jumped over some lockers, landing on the ones that they were leaning against. She shrieked and Stiles fell against the wall, his back brushing against the bright red fire extinguisher next to the door.

"Use that!" Harper yelled.

Stiles frantically turned around, letting go of her to yank it off of the wall. The lanky teen struggled to grab a hold on of it properly, only getting a good grasp as Scott jumped off of the lockers right in front of them.

He didn't hesitate before releasing the carbon dioxide, the gas immediately filling the air around the werewolf. Scott moved frantically, keeping his head down low and his arms in the head as he tried to avoid it.

Stiles didn't stop until he had pulled Harper out of the room, the two teenagers falling against the wall as they panted, trying to recover from whatever the hell just happened.

"Harper? Stiles?" Scott's quiet voice come from inside the locker room, causing Harper to turn and peer her head around the door. "What happened?"

Scott was sat on one of the benches, sweat drenching his face and his hair, his facial expression looking about as puzzled as Harper felt. How could he not remember just trying to kill Stiles and her? Did this always happen with werewolves?

Stiles sighed, dropping the metal fire extinguisher to the ground and ripping his gloves off. "You tried to kill Harper and I." He said simply. "It's like I told you before." He bent to sit down on the ground as she stood behind him. "It's the anger. It's your pulse rising. It's a trigger,"

"But that's lacrosse." Scott protested with a frown. "It's a pretty violent game, if you haven't noticed."

"Well, it's going to be a lot more violent if you end up killing someone of the field." Harper claimed and Stiles nodded along in agreement.

"You can't play Saturday. You're gonna have to get out of the game." Stiles told him regretfully, although they all knew that it was for the best.

Scott shook his head, "but I'm first line." He croaked.

"Not anymore."

☹☻

The ride home, Stiles had told her what Scott had told him in the locker room before the lacrosse game today. Apparently, Allison's dad, Chris Argent, wasn't as innocent as he seemed.

He was a hunter.

A werewolf hunter, to be exact. The news shocked Harper and left her wondering if Allison knew, too. Was she also a hunter? Is she using Scott to get close to him before she can turn him into yet another rug for their families collection?

When Harper finally got home from school about half an hour later, her grandma was laying on the couch, so motionless that she almost looked lifess.

Harper couldn't help the panic that filled her as she quickly shook her awake. Rose's eyes slowly fluttered open and a small smile crossed her face before she began to cough, each one rattling her fragile body.

"Grandma." The younger girl frowned worriedly. "Why didn't you tell me that you were sick this morning?"

"This morning I felt fine." She dismissed her granddaughters concerns with a wave of the hand. "In fact, I'm starting to feel better now. Just a little cough, that's all."

Swallowing her doubt, Harper nodded. "Okay. Well, do you want me to make dinner tonight?"

"I'm not hungry, sweet pea." Her grandma tried to smile at her, but her top lip just quivered and she gave up.

Her boney hand gently patted Harper's and the brunette stood up, faking a sweet smile at her grandma.

"I've gotta go. I'm late for a Skype call with Scott and Stiles." Harper's voice shook slightly, but thankfully Rose didn't notice.

She laughed, a high pitched wheeze escaping her throat and causing her to cough more. Rose closed her eyes, waving her hand for Harper to leave.

Reluctantly, the teenage girl left the room, wiping her sweaty hands against each other. It pained her to see her grandma so vulnerable. Rose was the only family she had left that lived in Beacon Hills, or America, even. The rest of her family all lived back in England.

Stop thinking like that. She's not dying, you idiot. It's literally just a cough.

Harper gave herself a minute to contain herself as she stepped in the room. After taking a deep breath, she jogged up the stairs and into her bedroom. She drew the curtains shut and flicked on her fairy lights, the entire room warm with the faint lights.

She switched the light on her desk on so that Stiles and Scott would actually be able to see her when they called. Harper opened her laptop, leaning on her hand. Just as she finished typing in her password, her laptop started to alert her.

Group call: Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski

Harper answered it, her bad mood leaving as soon as she saw Stiles pop up on the screen, a bright green toy gun in his hand, a grin on his face as he 'shot' at the screen. It made fake gunshot noises and lit up.

Harper laughed, leaning back and holding her hand to her heart, pretending to be shot. The pair laughed at each other, but Scott didn't look pleased.

"What'd you find out?" He asked as Stiles put the gun away, straightening up.

"Lydia said that Jackson's got a seperated shoulder." Harper replied. "She said he's really hurt."

Scott looked slightly shocked, his face falling even more. "Because of me?"

"Because he's a tool." Stiles inputed and Harper scoffed.

"But is he gonna play?" Scott sounded worried, which confused Harper.

All of their high school life Jackson had been out to get him, and he's worried that Jackson can't play? Sometimes Scott is too nice to be true.

Stiles' screen glitched a little as he moved slightly. "Oh, they don't know yet. Now they're just counting on you for Saturday."

Scott sighed, closing his eyes and shaking his head slightly. She can only imagine how much stress the new teen wolf is feeling. Not only is he a werewolf, but his girlfriends' dad is a hunter, he can't play Saturday because he can't control his shifting, but he has to play because he injured one of the only other good players, and Derek Hale keeps turning up in wierd places.

Harper's heart stopped when she looked up at Scott's screen and saw a dark figure behind him, just standing there- not moving, not saying anything. Stiles leaned forwards, squinting his eyes. He had seen it, too.

"What?" Scott looked at them in confusion.

Stiles began typing as Harper gulped, all of their screens glitching.

Stiles: It looks like

Before Stiles could finish all of their screens froze and Harper cursed quietly, panic flooding through her. Stiles didn't get to finish his text, and now Scott is going to die. Stiles and Harper didn't want to say it in case the figure behind him caught Scott off guard, but maybe now that would have been a better choice.

The screen finally came back, and by now Stiles text was on the screen.

Stiles: Someone's behind you

Scott looked alarmed, "what?" He whispered, his hand moving to his mouse.

The entire screen went black, leaving Harper stunned into silence. She pulled out her phone as fast as she could and quickly texted the group chat that she was in with Stiles and Scott.

Harper: wtf just happened??????

Stiles: idk

Stiles: scott? you there buddy??

After about a minute of sitting there anxiously biting at her nails and staring at the screen of her mobile phone, she clicked off of the app and tried calling Scott's number. There was no reply, not even when she tried the second or third time. She called Stiles who picked up after literally two seconds.

"Has he called you?" She asked him urgently.

Stiles sighed, "no. Who do you think it was?"

"I don't care," Harper frowned. "I just want to know if he's okay. With all this werewolf crap going on it's making me think the worse. I'm already as stressed as it is."

"Why are you stressed?" Stiles worried.

She bit her lip. "Doesn't matter. It's nothing. I'm gonna call Scott again." She hung up without a goodbye.

Harper hated opening up about her issues with her family. All she got were sympathetic words and sad looks, and it doesn't help, it just made her feel weak. Talking about it also made it feel more real. She had only spoken about her grandad since he died once and her parents a handful of times.

This time when she called Scott he answered. "It was Derek." Was the first thing he said. "He told me I can't play in the game on Saturday. He threatened me."

Harper sighed, "then I guess you can't play."

"What?" Scott breathed in disbelief. "You're meant to support me. Tell me not to listen to him and to go out there and live my life as a normal teenage boy."

"Hate to tell you this, but you're not exactly a normal teenage boy anymore, Scott. You're a werewolf, and when a far more experienced werewolf tells you not to do something, you probably shouldn't do it."

"What will coach say?" He stressed.

Harper scoffed loudly, "you're worried about what coach will say? You're a freaking werewolf, Scott McCall! Derek Hale keeps turning up out of nowhere and telling you creepy stuff. But, out of our massive list of problems, Coach Finstock is at the top?"

"He is pretty scary." Scott joked quietly and Harper chuckled, shaking her head. "I need to go. Stiles keeps texting me. I'll talk to you soon."

"Of course. Goodnight, McCall."

"Night, Verum."

...

Fourth period had just finished and Harper had never been so thankful to hear the deafening ring of that lunch bell. All morning she had been worried about her grandma, who was still lying on the couch as sick as a dog at home. Lunch meant that she could finally call her and make sure she was okay.

Walking out of her German class, she switched on her phone, her head down as she scrolled through her contacts, looking for her grandma's name. Just as she was about to tap it, she walked straight into someone, the loose grip she had on her phone causing it to fall to the ground.

"I'm sorry," a familiar voice came. Noah Stilinski. "Oh, Harper. Is your phone okay?"

Harper sent him a large smile as she bent down, picking up her luckily undamaged phone.

"Luckily, yes." She dusted the screen off. "What are you doing here anyway? Is Stiles in trouble again?"

"This time it's not Stiles." Sheriff sighed, rubbing his temples. "But I can't tell you why. It's top secret."

"I'm sure it is." Harper smiled. "Anyways, have a nice day, Noah."

He smiled fondly at her, "you too, Harper."

She walked down the steps, about to turn the corner when a pair of hands yanked her arm, pulling her against the wall. Harper's eyes were wide, her heartbeat slowing down when she realised it was just her two idiotic best friends.

"Did my dad tell you why they're here?" Stiles gestured towards Sheriff Stilinski, who was now talking with the principal and another police officer that Harper didn't recognise.

She shook my head. "Nope."

"Tell me what they're saying." He turned to Scott. Scott began to concentrate on the sheriff. "Can you hear them?" Stiles nudged the werewolf.

"Shh," Scott hushed him, turning his head back towards the adults. After a moment he turned back to the two teenagers. "Curfew because of the body."

Stiles groaned, "unbelievable." He rolled his hazel eyes. "My dad's out looking for a rabid animal while the jerkoff who actually killed the girl is just hanging out, doing whatever he wants."

"Well you can't exactly tell your dad the truth about Derek." Scott reasoned.

Stiles didn't hesiate before saying, "I can do something."

"Like what?" The brunette girl asked curiously. What on earth could he do that won't expose werewolves?

"Like find the other half of the body." Stiles spoke more quietly this time.

He began to walk away and Scott gave Harper a look of disbelief. "Is he kidding?" He groaned. "Stiles is going to be the fricking death of me."

She smiled softly. "At least let him try. He's only trying to help his dad out."

Scott just rolled his eyes before looking across the hallway. She followed where he was looking, sighing when she saw Lydia introducing Allison to some guy on the lacrosse team. Harper knew exactly what she was doing by the smirk on her face.

Shaking her head, she watched as Scott began to walk over.

Oh Lydia.

"Harper," a voice called her over.

The brunette smiled, leaving her spot to go and stand next to one of her friends- Erica Reyes. Erica was truly beautiful, inside and out, but her extreme lack of confidence and epilepsy put her down.

Once she had a massive seizure in class which included people recording it as she wet herself. Harper had been the only one to help her afterwards, which was why Harper was one of Erica's only friends.

"Hey, Erica." Harper reached forwards to feel the material of her oversized jumper. "This is cute."

Erica smiled shyly, "thank you, Harper. You're so nice to me."

"Yeah, well, you deserve more love, Erica." Harper gently told her. "I actually have to call my grandma now, but we should definitely have a sleepover soon."

Erica beamed back at her only friend, nodding. "Of course. See you, Harps."

"Bye, Erica!"

☹☻

After the death of her parents and then her grandfather, Harper had been given free counselling sessions from the school. She didn't go often, she never even had appointments, she would just turn up and see if Morrell had room for her.

Luckily, last period she did. Harper used the "time out pass" she had been given because of her PTSD to go to Morrell's office. She had a lot on her mind and just felt like talking to someone who wouldn't sugarcoat things.

Harper gently tapped on the door and waited for an invitation to enter the room.

"Come in." A woman chirped from behind the door.

The brunette walked inside, forcing a smile at Ms Morrell. Ms Morrell smiled back, gesturing towards the seat in front of her desk. Harper sat down.

"Maybe we should start making our meetings more official, Harper. We could do every Tuesday, if you want. You have a free period during fifth period." Morrell suggested.

Harper nodded. "Yeah, if that's convenient for you then it is for me."

Morrell sent her a smile before typing something into the computer on her desk. Once she had finished she turned to face Harper, giving her her full attention.

"Now, what brings you here today? Something on your mind that you would like to talk about?" The woman asked.

Harper sighed. "I don't really know why I'm here, to be honest. I felt drawn here."

Morrell nodded again. "Is your anxiety getting bad again?"

Harper thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. "It's okay right now. I haven't had to take my medication for a while, which is good."

"How is your grandma?" Morrell asked. "I believe I will be seeing her for the parent/teacher conference soon."

Harper's face fell. "She's sick."

Morrell frowned. "How so?"

"Bad cough." The teenager replied. "But it scares me every time she's sick. Like, she has a cough now, but what's next? Some life threatening disease, probably."

Morrell pursed her lips together. "Would you say that you automatically think the worst in these kind of situations? Because of your history."

Harper swallowed thickly. "I guess. Do you think I'm overreacting?"

"I can't say." Her councillor replied. "But I do think it's to do with a mixture of your PTSD, your granddad, and you being human."

"Me being human?" She repeated, not quite understanding what that had to do with things.

Ms Morrell nodded. "Any sane person would care when someone they love is sick. I'm sure there are many people in your life that would care greatly if you were sick, too."

Harper's thoughts immediately drifted to a certain hazel eyed boy.

"Yeah."


	6. chapter four

"Here you go, grandma. I booked an appointment with your doctor for tomorrow morning at eight." Harper told her softly as she handed her her dinner, just some buiscits and tea. Her grandma was feeling too sick to eat properly.

Her grandma sighed. "You didn't have to do that, sweetie. I'll be fine, it's just a cold." She explained.

Harper shook my head, "I'd never forgive myself if something else was wrong, grandma. I need you. Besides, it's always better to be on the safe side. They can give you something for that nasty cough of yours."

As if on cue, Rose began to cough loudly, her entire body moving. She lifted the tissues to her mouth, her eyes watering and her hand shaking slightly. Frowning, she handed her the tissue box sat on the coffee table next to her, in case she needed more.

"I love you, sweetpea." She told her croakily, sending Harper a weak smile.

Just as Harper was about to repeat the words, there was a rapid knocking at the door, causing her to sigh.

"I'll be back in a second, grandma." She kissed her forehead sweetly before moving to answer the front door.

When she opened it, the brunette wasn't surprised to see Stiles stood there, his legs bouncing and his hand running through his buzz cut. His face lit up when he saw Harper and he began rambling things she couldn't make out.

Harper laughed slightly. "What do you need, Stiles?"

He shut up before opening his mouth again, this time his words came out more clearly. "Scott said he needs to talk to us. He said he found something. Something big. And it can help out my dad. You need to come!"

Harper frowned. "I can't my grandma's sick."

"You go, honey." She called from the living room. "I'll be fine. I've got my buiscits, my tea and the TV to keep me distracted. If I need you I will call you."

Stiles gave her a look as if to say 'listen to your grandma'.

After half a minute of hesitating, Harper finally gave in. "I love you, grandma." She called out to her.

Rose replied with the same words and Harper quickly pulled on her clean Adidas shoes before rushing out the door and towards Stiles' blue jeep. He was in such a hurry that he had left his door swung open, the keys inside, and the engine still running.

"How much-"

"A lot," he shook his head. "A lot of Adderall."

Harper giggled, strapping into her seatbelt before Stiles began to speed down the road. He was going over the speed limit, but he didn't seem to care. Everytime Stiles got done for speeding, his dad helped him out. The perks of being the Sheriff's son.

Five minutes later, Stiles pulled up at Scott's house, quickly climbing out the car and running inside, not even bothering to knock. Harper got out of the jeep and began to jog up the stairs, making it just in time to hear what Stiles and Scott were saying.

She stopped in the doorway of Scott's bedroom as Scott sat on the edge of his bed, Stiles a few steps away from him, looking even more frantic than when he had come to pick Harper up. He was blinking a lot, but she assumed that was just from all the medication he had been taking. Bless Stiles Stilinski.

"I found something at Derek Hale's." Scott spoke solemnly.

Stiles' hazel eyes widened. "Are you kidding? What?"

"There was something buried there. I could smell blood," Scott announced, grabbing the girl's attention.

She raised an eyebrow, leaning away from the door frame. "What?"

"That's awesome!" Stiles exclaimed before thinking about what he said and adding, "I mean, that's terrible. Whose blood?"

Scott stood up, "I don't know." He said. "But when we do, your dad nails Derek for the murder. And then you help me figure out how to play lacrosse without changing. Because there's no way I'm not playing that game."

Stiles grinned proudly as Scott threw his lacrosse stick onto the bed, but Harper decided to keep out of this conversation. She would not win two against one.

☹☻

The three teenagers tended to end up at Beacon Hills Hospital quite a lot. Between Scott's mum, Melissa McCall, working there and the amount of time Harper had fallen over and broken something, they were here a lot. Which is why doctors were greeting them as soon as they walked inside.

Harper pointed to a sign that said 'morgue'. "Hey," she gestured as Scott gave her a small nod. "Try not to get caught."

"Yeah," Stiles added. "And good luck, I guess."

Stiles and Harper walked into the waiting room, taking the first two empty seats beside each other and sitting down. The hazel eyed boy beside Harper immediately pulled out his phone and began to play games on it. Sighing, she leaned her head onto his shoulder, closing her eyes.

Stiles tensed up from beneath her, chuckling nervously. "Tired?" He asked. "How's your grandma, by the way? She sounded really sick earlier."

"She is." Harper yawned. "Very sick. I got her a doctors appointment tomorrow at eight."

Stiles hesitated. "Do you need someone to drop you off? It's a Saturday so we don't have school."

The brunette thought back to her session with Morrell, about what she said about people caring. 

Harper pulled her head away from him, a smile crossing my lips. "You'd do that?" She asked.

Stiles looked into her brown eyes, "I'd do anything for you." He replied with such sincerity that it made her heart skip a beat and the butterflies in her stomach to come to life again.

Harper grabbed his hand and squeezed it before letting go, showing her apprecation towards him. Just as she was about to reply with similiar words, a familiar voice cut her off.

"Did they do it?" Lydia. She turned her head around the corner to see her standing there, Jackson in front of her. They were probably here because of his shoulder injury.

Jackson rubbed his shoulder, confirming Harper's suspisions. "He said not to make a habit out of it, but one cortisone shot won't kill me." He explained.

Lydia replied, "you should get one right before the game, too." Jackson glared at her slightly and she sighed. "The pros do it all the time. You want to be a little high school amateur? Or... do you want to go pro?"

She grabbed his arms, leaning in to kiss him. They began to make out in the middle of the hallway. Harper turned her nose up, going back around to face Stiles who was looking around. Suddenly Scott appeared right in front of them, making both of them jump.

"The scent was the same." He confirmed.

Stiles' mouth hung open. "You sure?"

Scott nodded. "Yes."

Harper sighed. "So he did bury the other half of the body outside his house."

"Which means we have proof he killed the girl." Scott finished.

Stiles smirked as he began to walk down the hallway with Scott and Harper following close behind. "I say we use it."

"How?" The petite girl asked curiously.

Ignoring her, Stiles turned to Scott. "Tell me something first." Stiles looked him dead in the eye. "Are you doing this because you want to stop Derek or because you want to play in the game he said you couldn't?"

"There were bite marks on the legs, Stiles. Bite marks." Scott didn't properly answer the question.

Chills ran down Harper's spine as Stiles nodded. "Okay, then we're going to need a shovel." He patted both their backs before turning to leave again.


	7. chapter five

It was pitch black outside now, and Harper had sent a couple of text messages back to her grandma to warn her that she wouldn't be back for a while. Rose had replied with a few kisses, indicating that it was okay. Harper still felt bad though, even as they watched Derek leave and Stiles pulled up in front of the old, ruined house. 

As the three teenagers climbed out of the jeep, Harper wondered how on earth it was stable enough for a person to live in there. It was no doubt a beautiful, large home before it had been burnt down, but now it looked like it was about to collapse any moment, half of the building was missing and the broken windows were boarded up with wooden planks.

Scott grabbed two shovels, keeping one for himself and tossing the other one to Stiles. Stiles chucked Harper the torch, telling her that it was her job to keep a look out in case Derek came back.

Harper wasn't really happy with her role in this job (or more like crime). The thought of the werewolf coming back to them digging up his property terrifed her.

The werewolf beside her sniffed the air. "Wait. Something's different."

"Different how?" She replied, shining the torch straight in front of them so that they could all see.

There wasn't much to see though. Other than the old house there was only trees and leaves surrounding it.

"I don't know." Scott hesitated. "Let's just get this over with."

He walked down to the side of the house before sticking the shovel in the ground. Stiles quickly began to help while Harper stood in her oversized jumper, shivering slightly while holding the torch.

"Keep it still." Scott warned.

Harper rolled her brown eyes. "I'm freezing."

"You're wearing a massive jumper." He retorted.

She rolled her brown eyes one more time. She could probably get a headache from the amount of times that she had rolled her eyes today. But being around Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski does that to you.

Twenty minutes later, the boys were still barely getting anywhere. They were panting, sweaty messes.

"This is taking way too long." Scott groaned, lifting up more dirt and throwing it over his shoulder.

"Just keep going." Stiles muttered, not even looking up as he continued to dig away.

"What if he comes back?"

"Then we get the hell out of here." Stiles replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What if he catches us?"

"I have a plan for that." Stiles stopped digging to tell them. "You run one way, Harper and I run the other. Whoever he catches first, too bad."

Harper giggled a little as Scott's face screwed up. "I hate that plan."

Stiles didn't reply, moving his shovel back into the earth to dig when it hit something. Harper raised her eyebrows as he began warning Scott to stop. She moved forwards with the flashlight, shining it over where he had hit something.

Scott and Stiles began to dig with their hands, coming across some ropes. "Hurry," Scott warned Stiles as he began to try and untie the knots.

"I'm trying." Stiles grunted. "Did he have to tie the thing with like nine hundred knots?"

Scott sighed. "I'll do it."

He began to help, the two of them quickly getting the knots undone. Harper squinted her eyes as they pulled away the material covering whatever was in the ground. But she wished they hadn't. The three of them screamed loudly, the boys jumping out of the hole as the body was revealed.

Only it wasn't a human body. It was the dead body of a dark haired wolf.

"What the hell is that?" Stiles yelled.

"It's a wolf." Scott spoke in disbelief.

"Yeah. We can see that." Harper tried to control her breathing from where her heart had just spazzed out. "I thought you said you could smell blood? As in human blood?"

Scott shook his head. "I told you something was different." He claimed.

Stiles blinked. "This doesn't make sense." He refused to believe it.

"We gotta get out of here." Harper rubbed her temples, the stress of this whole thing finally starting to get to her.

"Yeah," Stiles agreed. "Help me cover this up." He told Scott.

Scott began to cover what was left of the wolf up with dirt when Harper noticed something. Harper pointed the flashlight over to where a single purple flower was growing out of the ground. It was the only bit of colour around here.

"What's wrong?" Scott asked.

"Do you see that flower?" She pointed at it.

Scott frowned. "What about it?"

"I think it's wolfsbane." Harper didn't sound too sure herself, it came out more like a question. Stiles nodded along with her though.

Scott looked at Harper like he wanted her to explain further. "What's that?"

Stiles sighed loudly. "Haven't you ever seen The Wolf Man?" He sighed even louder when Scott shook his head. "Lon Chaney Jr.? Claude Rains? The original classic werewolf movie?"

"No, what?" Scott was clearly getting fustrated.

Stiles huffed. "You're so unprepared for this." He crept over to the flower and Harper followed close behind, keeping the light on it the whole time.

He began to pull it from the ground, stopping when he realised that the roots were attached to a rope. Harper and Stiles both shared a look of confusion before he continued, more and more rope coming up.

Scott watched, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as Stiles pulled the rope carefully. It lead all the way around where the dead wolf had been buried. Harper looked back into the hole, her heart skipping a beat when she saw what was inside.

"Stiles!" She whacked his arm, causing him to look over.

The two boy both jumped when they saw it. Inside, in replacement of the wolf, was half of a dead body. A girl, a few years older than them, was lying lifelessly there, but her eyes were wide open, as if she was looking at them.

Harper grabbed hold of Stiles' arm. "Call your dad."

☹☻

The next morning, Stiles had personally picked up Scott and Harper at six in order for the three of them to watch the arrest of Derek Hale. The police had been waiting for Derek to come back all night, but he heard over the police radio station thing his dad had that Derek had just gotten home.

As soon as they had gotten there, Stiles had left Scott and Harper next to his jeep while he went off to investigate. The girl was barely awake, since she had been up most of the night yesterday and it was only six in the morning.

Harper had thrown on a pair of black jeans and a cute top. She hoped that her outfit would make up for the fact that her face was bare with no makeup. At least it was Saturday, so they had no school.

The door the the Hale house suddenly opened and Derek Hale himself walked out, a police man attached to his arm and sheriff Stilinski following behind. Derek was in hand cuffs, his eyes trained Scott and Harper as the police guided him towards the car. Harper looked down, feeling somewhat bad. It was in her nature to care too much.

The police officer pushed Derek into the back of the car and she heard Scott sigh slightly from beside her. Looking around, she noticed about half of the police station were here, including detectives from out of state. Some were crowded around the hole that they had dug up, taking pictures and samples as evidence.

Harper's eyes landed on Stiles who was walking from by the trees towards the police car Derek was currently sat in, his hands in his pockets, whistling slightly. It was so obvious that he was trying to look natural that he looked utterly suspicious. Harper groaned as Scott began shaking his head, whispering a 'no'.

Stiles just shot them both a look before opening the drivers door and climbing inside. She mentally face palmed. Stiles Stilinski is the reason they are banned from not only the cinema but their local corner shop. He just always has to stick his nose into everything.

Maybe that's why she liked him so much.

Hey, hey. Not the time.

Scott looked away, too embarrassed to watch what ever was going to happen in the police car between Stiles and Derek. Harper, however, couldn't peel her eyes away. She watched as Stiles began to talk, though she obviously couldn't hear what he was saying.

Not even half a minute of them talking went by before Stiles was being yanked out of the car by Noah. Stiles yelped as Stilinski grabbed his arm, pulling him up to stand straight before slamming the car door.

Stiles sighed.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Noah glared at his only son.

"I'm just trying to help." Stiles attempted to reason with his father, using his usual hand actions.

The sheriff didn't look convinced. "Uh-huh. Well, how about you help me understand exactly how you came across this."

Thankfully, Stiles didn't flinch. He sighed. "We were looking for Scott's inhaler." He sighed convincingly.

"Which he dropped when?" Sheriff asked.

"The other night." Stiles replied without a single moment of hesitation.

Harper knew already that Noah had latched onto Stiles' web of lies. "The other night when you were out here looking for the first half of the body?"

"Yes!"

"The night that you told me you and Harper were in the woods alone and Scott was at home?"

"Yes!" Stiles exclaimed before realisation hit him and his face fell. "No! Oh, crap."

Noah only gave a smirk of satisfaction. "So you lied to me?"

"That depends on how you define lying."

"Well I define it as not telling the truth. How do you define it?"

Stiles thought for a few seconds. "Reclining your body in a horizontal position?" He replied, causing Harper to snort from where she was.

Noah, however, didn't find it as funny as she did. "Get the hell out of here." He muttered.

"Absolutely," Stiles nodded after not even a second passed by, scratching his head awkwardly before rushing over towards Scott and Harper.

☹☻

To Grandma: Hey, grandma. Stiles and I are picking you up in a bit for your doctors appointment. Be ready x

Harper sent her grandma the text message before sinking down futher into her seat in the back of the jeep, a small yawn escaping her mouth. Stiles was going to drop Scott home and then take them to the doctors, but right now they were googling about wolfsbane. Their encounter with the wolf/girl had left them curious.

"I can't find anything about wolfsbane being used for burial." Scott groaned from the passangers seat, sounding stressed and aggravated.

"Me either." Harper sighed as she clicked back onto the internet tab she was on before she had texted her grandmother.

Stiles didn't take his eyes off of the road as he drove down the path leading out of the woods. "Just keep looking." He insisted as Scott huffed.

"Maybe, it's like a ritual or something. Like, maybe they bury you as a wolf. Or maybe it's like a special skill. You know, like something you have to learn." The boy with the buzz cut continued to guess.

Scott rolled his brown eyes. "I'll put it on my to-do list." He remarked sarcastically. "Right underneath, 'figure out how the hell I'm playing this game tonight.'."

Stiles completely ignored him. "Maybe it's different for girl werewolves." He continued.

Scott suddenly snapped. "Okay, stop it."

Stiles frowned, "stop what?"

"Stop saying 'werewolves'. Stop enjoying this so much!" He yelled, his voice sounding strangled as he grunted, bending slightly.

"Are you okay?" Harper asked worriedly, leaning forward in her seat to come closer towards them both.

"No!" He yelled again, causing her to sit back a little. "No, I'm not. I'm so far from being okay."

He began to wince, panting as he held his stomach. Stiles didn't seem to notice this, but Harper did.

"You know, you're gonna have to accept this, Scott. Sooner or later." Stiles tried to calm him down, failing miserably as Scott panted.

"I can't."

"Well, you're going to have to!"

Harper bit her lip anxiously as Scott groaned. "No." He seethed. "I can't breathe."

The werewolf suddenly groaned loudly before slamming his hands against the roof of Stiles' jeep, causing Harper to jump and Stiles to look over quickly. His face was screwed up in agony.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Stiles began to swerve, the jeep going off of the road for a few moments, going down into the woods.

Harper grabbed hold of the seats, terrified. "Pull over!" She shrieked as Stiles managed to steer them back onto the road.

"What's happening?" He turned to Scott frantically.

Scott didn't reply, still panting as he unzipped Stiles' backpack, pulling out he wolfsbane wrapped in rope. He held it before turning to face Stiles, now looking furious. All he had to do was make Stiles do the wrong move and they were all dead.

"You kept it?" He yelled.

Stiles tried to defend himself. "What was I supposed to do with it?"

Scott hissed. "Stop the car!" His eyes flashed a golden yellow, his voice low and demonic.

Stiles' eyes widened and he finally listened, hitting the brakes as quickly as he could. "Okay," he quickly grabbed the bag, swung the door open, rushed outside and threw his backpack as far away as he could into the trees.

Harper turned to Scott to ask if he was okay, only to be met with an empty seat and an open door. Stiles turned around to come back, his eyes widening when he saw that Scott was gone.

He gulped. "He ran?"

She nodded fearfully.

☹☻

"Stiles, you know you can't call the dispatch line when I'm on duty." The familair voice of Genny came from over the other end of his fathers old police radio that he had stolen when he first got his jeep.

Genny was Harper's favourite police officer, after Sheriff Stilinski, of course. When Stiles and Harper were younger they used to come down to the station and she would always watch them for Noah when he had to go out. Even nowadays they bring her coffee when they go to see Stilinski up at the the station.

"I just need to know if you've gotten any odd calls." Stiles asked urgently as he drove around a corner.

By now Harper had moved to the front, looking out the windows for any sign of Scott.

"Odd how?" She repeated, confused.

"Uh, like an odd person or dog-like indivisual roaming the streets?"

Harper glared at Stiles as Jenny sent a goodbye before disconnecting. Ignoring her glare, Stiles threw the walkie talkie down onto the backseat, sighing.

Her face softened. "Stiles, I'm sure Scott will be perfectly fine." She moved her hand to gently place it other his anxiously bouncing one. "We can drive about for a bit, see where he-"

Harper was cut off by the sound of her own phone buzzing. She quickly grabbed it, praying it was Scott but sighing when she saw it was her grandma.

"Who is it?" Stiles asked, not taking his eyes off of the road in front of him.

"My grandma." Harper replied.

Grandma: Where are you sweetie xx

Harper's eyes widened. "Oh crap! We were meant to take her to the doctors!" She panicked, looking at the time. "I have fifteen minutes. You can drop me off at home and keep looking for Scott-"

Stiles moved his hand to now place it on top of hers, instantly making her freeze. "I told you I would take you and your grandma. You said it yourself, Scott will be fine." He spoke so softly, it was as if he hadn't been panicking literally a minute ago.

Harper couldn't help the small smile that crossed her face. "Thanks, Stiles." She whispered.

Stiles changed direction, driving the jeep to Harper's house, again, going over the speed limit.

☹☻

Harper helped Rose into the front seat and climbed into the back, handing her a blanket from the back when she noticed she was shaking like a leaf in autumn time.

"Are you okay, Rose?" Stiles asked Rose worriedly, his eyebrows knitting together as he took his eyes off of the road to look at her.

She smiled weakly at him. "It's just a cough, sweetheart. I've been trying to tell Harper this, but she won't listen." She patted his knee.

Stiles smiled sweetly at her. "It's just because she cares. Harper just worries." He reminded her, as if she wasn't even sat in the back.

Harper looked up from where she was looking out the window to smile fondly at them both. Her two favourite people (no offence Scott) were sat right in front of her. She had everything she needed in this jeep right here, right now. It would be a bonus if her other best friend was here too, but her feelings for Stiles were a little stronger.

Harper wondered if it was possible that Stiles could ever like her back. He had never had a girlfriend before, but she knew he was straight due to his crushes on celebrities in the past few years. Maybe he would always see her as just his friend though. The thought crushed Harper, but she pushed it aside as he pulled up at the car park in front of the doctors.

"I'll pay for a parking ticket, you guys go inside." He told her as he helped her grandma out. Harper climbed out from the back, moving to her grandma's side.

"Here's five dollars." She handed him the note. "Give me back the change."

Stiles scoffed. "You don't have to pay for me to park my car."

Harper rolled her eyes. "You're only here because I asked you to."

"Still." Stiles rolled his eyes.

"Take the money, Stiles." She shoved the bill back into his hands as he shoved it away.

"No, I have money." He protested.

Rose laughed, pulling them out of their mini arguement. "You two bicker like a married couple. Like me and your granddad. Are you sure the two of you aren't dating?"

The two of them shut up, blushing madly. "No, grandma." Harper spluttered while Stiles began to avoid all eye contact, scratching the back of his neck. "Just take the money."

Harper pushed it into his hand before gently grabbing her grandma and leading her away, towards the entrance of the doctors. When they were inside she signed her in and sat down in the waiting room.

"I can't believe you said that." Harper hissed at her.

Rose giggled. "You need to tell him how you feel before it's too late, sweetie. I regreted not telling your grandfather things. Don't you go making the same mistakes as me. I won't allow it."

"I don't like him like that." She lied, pushing her hair out of her face and not looking her in the eye.

She rolled her blue eyes. "I saw how you looked at him, hon. It's okay to like someone. Even if it's your best friend. It's adorable, like something out of a movie. And he looked at you like that too, sweetpea. He's always looked at you like that."

"Like what, grandma?" Harper mumbled, finally looking her in the eye. Did Stiles look at her like that?

Rose coughed awkwardly as the lanky teenage boy walked through the door, smiling slightly when he noticed them and taking a seat on the other side of Harper. He handed her the five dollar bill, causing her to sigh.

Before Harper could even speak, he cut her off. "Don't even." He held one finger up. "I won't accept any money, and I swear to God I will make a scene."

"You wouldn't." She threatened him.

He smirked. "Try me. I will literally scream this place down."

A doctor walked into the room, causing Harper to look up. "Rose Verum?" She called sweetly, but messing up the last name horribly.

Her grandma stood up and turned to Harper. "I can go in by myself, sweetie." She said before turning to walk away with the doctor.

Stiles patted Harper's hand in a comforting way, and she smiled as if to thank him. His gesture filled her with butterflies. Hopeless, pointless butterflies. He smiled back at her.

"We should try calling Scott again." Harper suggested, pulling out her phone.

Harper tried calling him twice, only for it to go straight to his voicemail. Stiles had the same reaction, until the both just gave up, slumped in the chairs in defeat. She ran a hand through her dark hair again, aware that it probably looked like she had been dragged through a bush backwards.

He glanced at Harper. "You should stop worrying so much. Stress isn't good," he warned.

Harper scoffed, "duh." She smiled a little. "I can't help but worry. About my grandma, about Scott, everything."

Stiles looked like he was debating to say something before he just sighed. "Scott will be okay. And your grandma is a strong woman, I'm sure she's fine. She's probably just got a cold, like she says."

She nodded in agreement. "You're right." She tried to convince herself. "Everything is going to be okay."

"Of course it is," he grabbed her hand and began to trace patterns with his thumb, causing her heart to do a thousand flips, the butterflies in her stomach to roar to life, and her head to go fuzzy. "I promise."

"This may be a little deep for a trip to the doctors..." Harper began. "But I want to tell you something."

"Yes?" He sat up eagerly, squeezing her hand a little. "You can ask me anything. Anything at all. Like, at all. Shoot. Fire."

Harper giggled, squeezing his hand back. "I just wanted to thank you." She told him. "For everything, Stiles. For being my best friend for the past however many years, for defending me, for making me smile and laugh and cry. For looking after me when my parents died, for begging your dad to let me stay with you, for being there for me when my granddad passed away. For taking me and my grandma to the doctors today. For comforting me right now. Everything. Thank you, Stiles Stilinski."

Stiles didn't know what to say. It wasn't what he was expecting, and he couldn't decide if it as so much better or not. His hands went a little sweaty in hers, but he prayed she didn't notice. He began to blink quickly, processing what she had just said.

A smile then broke out on his face. A real, massive, genuine Stiles Stilinski smile.

"Well then I want to thank you, too." He spoke confidentally.

"For what?" Harper smiled. "Just tagging along and making stupid comments?"

Stiles rolled his eyes. "You're so much more than that. You're so kind and amazing. Sometimes I wonder how after all of the things you've been through, you're still so thoughtful and loving. Your stupid comments only make me laugh. Your sense of humour is amazing. And when my mums anniversary come around you are always there for me. When I thought crying in front of Scott was babyish, you reminded me that it was okay to cry. You helped me heal, you helped me move on. So thank you, Harper Jean Verum."

Tears sprung to her eyes, threatening to spill, but she blinked quickly, the biggest grin on her face. Before Harper could open her mouth, some middle aged guy yelled from behind them, "ugh, just kiss already! You guys make me feel even sicker."

The two teenagers blushed, a loud laugh escaping Harper's lips as her head fell into her hands. She shook her head, laughing. "Oh my God," she muttered.

When she looked up Stiles was chuckling awkwardly too. "Can your grandma come out now and save us from this awkwardness?" He begged.

"I wish."

☹☻

Rose came out of the doctors and said that she was fine, but they had taken a blood test just in case. Harper was so relieved that her grandma was going to be okay. Stiles dropped her back home before they both went to his house.

His dad was still out, probably caught up in the whole Derek Hale murder case. Stiles and Harper watched movies all day on Netflix with popcorn and chocolate, until around five when she got a text message from Allison.

Stiles paused the movie they were currently watching. "Who is it?" He asked curiously, reaching into the half empty popcorn bowl and eating a handful.

"Allison," Harper replied as she read the text message.

From Allison: Scott just came by house and my dad hit him with the car (wtf I know). He's okay, but now my dad is coming to the lacrosse game tonight. Ugh.

"Scott's fine, he went around Allison's house." Harper told him.

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Of course he did." He muttered before switching the TV off. "We should start heading over to the school anyway. I have to go and get ready."

Harper nodded, getting up off of the coach and taking the bowl of popcorn to the kitchen. When she came back Stiles already had his PE bag over his shoulder and his shoes on. She slipped on her own shoes before following him out.

The car ride to the school was short and filled with silence. Not awkward or boring, but comfortable and content. The radio played quietly in the background as Harper leaned her head against the window, drumming her painted nails along to all of the pop music that played.

Stiles concentrated on driving until he pulled up at the school, parking in his usual place at the back of the school car park. They both got out before starting to walk towards the school.

"See you out there?" He sounded somewhat nervous as they stopped where she had to leave.

"That is why you drove me here." Harper laughed, giving him a small hug. "You go get changed. See ya,"

"S-see you," he waved back as she turned to leave, heading towards the field.

The stands were already packed with people. Harper noticed Allison with her dad and Lydia so she decided to go and sit with Melissa McCall, one of her favourite people ever- Scott's mum. She took a seat next to her, grinning.

"Hey, Harper." Melissa greeted her warmly. "How's my not-daughter doing?"

Harper giggled, "I'm good, Melissa. You excited to see Scott play tonight? I can't believe he made the team."

"Very." She replied. "And me too. I didn't believe him when he came home and told me. I thought he sat on the bench with Stiles?"

"Oh," Harper coughed awkwardly, looking over to where Stiles was sat on the bench, his dad next to him as they spoke. "But that was last year. Scott and Stiles practiced a lot over summer, turns out Scott was good enough to play first line."

Melissa nodded. "I'm so proud of him." She agreed. "Do you... you don't think there's anything wrong with Scott, right?"

Harper froze momenterially before smiling weakly. "Why would you think that?"

She shrugged, sighing. "He's just been acting strange lately... different. Distant. Has he spoke to you or Stiles about it?"

She shook her head. "He's perfectly okay at school and around us. He's probably just stressed because I heard Coach Finstock is looking for a new team captain." She lied easily.

Melissa nodded. "That makes sense."

Sheriff Stilinski walked over, smiling at the two of them. "Hey, Harper. Melissa." he smiled brightly. "I hear your son is playing tonight?" He sat down on the other side of the teenage girl.

"Yeah..." They began to talk about Scott and Stiles while Harper zoned out, looking around to see if she could spot Stiles. He was looking back at Harper, a smile on his face.

She smiled back, waving.

The whistle blew on the field, catching her attention as she turned away from Stiles. The lacrosse team from the other school and Beacon Hills High ran out onto the field, cheering and waving their lacrosse sticks in the air.

Harper began to play with her hair nervously as the game started, the ball going everywhere but Scott's direction. She snuck a quick glance in Stiles' direction, seeing him chewing his glove anxiously. Sighing, she turned back to the game.

Nobody was passing the ball to Scott, even when he was in the perfect spot. Harper suspected this had something to do with Jackson. It always somehow leads back to him. A player from the opposite team dropped the ball, sending it to the grass.

Scott saw the opportunity and he took it. But it looked like somebody else had the same idea. As Scott darted for the ball, Jackson went for it too, knocking Scott to the ground on the way.

Scott landed with a thump, causing Harper to wince. Meanwhile, Jackson scooped up the ball and cradled it before throwing it straight into the back of the net.

Everyone but Stiles, Melissa and Harper errupted into cheers. Harper sighed, remaining sat down on the bench next to Scott's mum who looked very dissapointed.

"That's it, Jackson!" Coach yelled from at the bottom of the bleachers. "Get fired up! Fired up!"

Melissa sighed before standing up and clapping. Harper guessed she had hesitated because her son had been knocked down, but his team was winning, after all.

She didn't clap though. Not for that jackass.

Harper heard extra loud whooping coming from a few benches behind, turning to see Lydia and Allison holding up a massive sign that read: "We luv u Jackson". She cringed, turning back to see Scott staring straight at the poster, a look of both defeat and anger written on his face.

"Ouch," she muttered. That one has to sting.

The game continued and Harper noticed how a few people around Scott were looking at him strangely. He was bent over slightly, panting in and out lightly, white puffs of air coming out from his breath and filling the cold air. Harper began to chew her bottom lip, not even stopping when she felt it start to bleed a little.

Nervous was an understatement.

Come on Scott.

The referee blew the whistle and the game came back to life. The ball flew through the air and Scott made a dash for it. He jumped, somehow managing to jump onto a member of the opposite teams shoulder, grabbing the ball mid air in his stick and landing on the ground perfectly.

"Oh my God." Harper muttered, her brown eyes wide.

He began to run as quickly as he could, cradling the ball the whole time as he doged other players. In, out, in, out. Melissa did a little jump from beside Harper, a massive grin on her face as she watched her son with such proudness that it filled Harper's worried heart with warmth.

Scott made it the entire length of the field before shooting it. It went straight through the net, causing everybody to cheer loudly. Melissa and Harper shot up in their seats, screaming for Scott.

"To McCall!" Coach Finstock yelled, Stiles jumping spastically from behind him. "Pass to McCall!"

A player from the other team grabbed the ball, turning around to throw it backwards, only to be met with Scott. He stared at Scott for a moment, his eyes wide before he threw the ball at him. Scott caught it effortlessly causing Harper's jaw to drop.

How did he..? Did he just..?

Scott ran, throwing the ball towards the net. The goalie lifted his lacrosse stick to catch it, but the ball went straight through the netting, slicing through and into the goal behind.

Harper yelled happily, Noah and Melissa high fiving each other from either side of her. She made eye contact with Stiles who was jumping around at the bottom of the bleachers, whooping for their best friend. He grinned at her, shooting her two big thumbs up.

The refree blew the whistle again, the ball going straight to Scott. Scott ran, finding himself in the middle of the field, nobody surrounding him. Harper watched as he started to pant, and she was almost sure he was growling. Her eyebrows furrowed as she excused myself, rushing down towards where Stiles was.

With only five seconds remaining and two members of Mystic Falls High closing in on Scott, he suddenly threw the ball. It landed in the goal just as the whistle blew and everybody began to cheer.

Beacon Hills had won.

Stiles looked relieved from beside her. "Yes! Yes! Oh my God." He let out a sigh, standing up.

"I hate to say it, but I don't think it's other yet." She muttered from beside him, chewing on the sleeve of her jumper anxiously.

Stiles didn't seem to hear her as he sat down on the bottom of the bleachers, taking off his gloves. Harper sighed, sitting down next to him as everybody went onto the field to cheer on the players, leaving just them and Noah.

If Stiles didn't think anthing was wrong then there probably wasn't anything wrong.

Stiles noticed his dad frowning on the phone and turned to him. "Dad? What's wrong?" He asked.

Harper thought too soon.

☹☻

Stiles and Harper rushed towards the locker room where they knew Scott would be. She couldn't believe what Stiles' dad had just told them. They were so screwed.

Stiles rushed into the boys locker room and Harper followed behind, the both of them stopping dead in their tracks when they saw what was going on in the shower area. Scott and Allison were making out, the two of them with their arms wrapped around each other.

She grabbed Stiles' arm, dragging him back so he couldn't watch and ruin the moment for them.

"Let him have his moment." Harper whispered quietly, a small smile on her face as they hid behind the pegs.

Stiles stood right next to her, her arm linked with his arm as they waited for them to stop kissing.

"I gotta get back to my dad." They heard her whisper, taking it as their cue to leave. Just as they came around the corner Allison noticed them. "Hey, Harper. Stiles." she nodded awkwardly.

"Hey," Harper smiled back as Allison left and Scott began to walk over, the cheesiest, biggest grin on his face.

"I kissed her." He sounded happier than Harper had seen him in the past few weeks, since all of this werewolf crap happened.

"We saw." She giggled back. Scott McCall's smile was contagious, there was no denying it.

"She kissed me." He grinned, causing her to chuckle as Stiles smiled.

"We saw that, too." He nudged Scott cheekily.

Scott just sighed happily before stammering,"I don't know how, but I controlled it. I pulled it back. Maybe I can do this. Maybe it's not that bad."

"We told you!" Harper squealed slightly, giving him a quick hug.

"Yeah..." Stiles gave an awkward laugh. "We'll talk later then."

He began to leave but Scott grabbed his lacrosse shirt, pulling him backwards to face him. "What?" He asked, his smile finally fading.

Stiles hesiated before sighing. "The, uh, medical examiner looked at the other half of the body we found."

"And?"

"Well, I'll keep it simple. Medical examiner determines killer of girl to be animal, not human. Derek is human, not animal. Derek not killer. Derek let out of jail."

Scott's face fell. "Are you kidding?" He asked in complete shock. He obviously thought it was all over.

"No, and here's a bigger kick in the ass." Stiles continued. "My dad ID'd the dead girl, both halves. Her name was Laura Hale."

Realisation dawned upon Scott. "Hale?" The werewolf repeated louder.

Harper bit her bottom lip. "Derek's sister." She confirmed.


	8. chapter six

"So you killed her?" Stiles summarised Scott's dream as he opened the doors to the school, letting Harper and Scott walk in first before following behind.

Scott had had a nightmare last night, involving a certain brunette named Allison. They had been sneaking around on one of the school buses when he turned, preying on her before killing the poor girl. He was still shaken by it.

"I don't know." Scott sighed. "I just woke up. And I was sweating like crazy, and I couldn't breathe. I've never had a dream where I woke up like that before."

"Really?" Stiles sounded surprised. "I have. Usually ends a little differently."

Scott and Harper both grimaced. "Stiles," Harper whacked his arm. Knowing that her best friend, and crush, had dreams like that only made her feel funny. Not a good kind of funny, like, uncomfortable - funny.

"A, I meant I've never had a dream that felt that real, and B, never give me that much detail about you in bed again." Scott rolled his eyes as he walked alongside the hazel eyed boy.

"Noted." Stiles held his hands up in defeat, as if they had been attacking him. "Let me take a guess here though."

Scott interrupted him before he could speak any further. "No, I know." Scott sighed. "You think it has something to do with me going out with Allison tomorrow. Like I'm gonna lose control and rip her throat out."

Stiles rolled his eyes from next to Harper. "No, of course not." He huffed. The two boys shared looks before Stiles admitted, "yeah, that's totally it."

"You're going to be fine, Scott. I swear. You're doing amazing at this whole werewolf thing. It's not like Lycanthropy for Beginners class that you can take." Harper spoke softly.

Scott hesitated for a second. "Yeah, not a class, but maybe a teacher."

Stiles' eyes widened. "Who, Derek?" He raised his voice. Scott nodded, causing Stiles to hit him over the head. "You forgetting the part where we got him tossed in jail?"

"Yeah, I know, but chasing her, dragging her to the back of the bus, it felt so real." Scott looked down at the floor, as if he embarrassed to admit it.

"How real?" The brunette girl asked.

"Like it actually happened." Scott confirmed, pushing open the doors that lead to the back of the school.

The three teenagers froze in their spots as soon as they looked up. Scott and Stiles stood either side of Harper, their mouths hung open, eyes wide and panic spreading through them.

The bright yellow school bus had had its back doors ripped off its hinges, blood covering the surface, seats pulled off from the inside. Exactly everything that Scott had described in his dream. Detectives were taking pictures and analysing samples.

What. The. Actual. Hell.

"I think it might have." Harper gulped.

☹☻

"She's probably fine." Stiles attempted to calm down Scott as he rushed down the hallway, dodging other teenagers, his phone in his hand as he repeatedly tried to get a hold of Allison.

"Holy crap. You killed her," Harper muttered, still dazed.

Stiles turned to glare at her. "Not helping."

Scott groaned, ignoring Harper. "She's not answering my texts, Stiles." He turned around, searching for the tall brunette.

"You know," Stiles began. "It could just be a coincidence, all right?"

"A seriously amazing coincidence." Harper muttered sarcastically from right behind him. The pale boy turned around to glare at her one more time.

Scott frowned. "Just help me find her, okay?"

They looked for a few minutes, the entire time Scott was being frantic and pushy, Stiles following around helplessly while Harper truly began to believe that Scott and wolfed out and killed the Argent girl. She ran a hand through her hair, looking around the hallway.

No Allison.

Scott suddenly stopped at some lockers, leaning over to calm himself down, groaning. Stiles and Harper both shared worried looks as he slammed his fists against one of the lockers. The entire locker was now only hanging by a hinge, dented badly.

It was Jackson's locker.

Harper couldn't help but snort a little despite the situation.

Scott rushed down the stairs leading to the main entrance of the school, only to bump into somebody. Stiles and Harper paused, a look of relief crossing Harper's face when she saw Allison stood in front of him, grinning as she moved her hair out her face.

"I knew he didn't kill her." Harper grinned at Stiles who simply looked at her in both shock and annoyance.

"You- You just! But! Holy crap." He shook his head, running a hand through his buzz cut in fustration.

The bell rang and she turned to him. "Gotta blast!"

Harper raced down the halls, trying to get to her first class on time. Just as she turned a corner, her shoulder collided with someone.

"Sorry!" She called, turning around slightly.

She was about to continue walking when a hand grabbed her wrist, tugging her back. Harper frowned, immediately feeling anxious when she turned around to see the guy she had bumped into.

"Sorry, again." She muttered awkwardly.

He let go of her wrist, scratching the back of his neck. "Oh, that's okay." He replied. "I don't know why I pulled you back here. Probably cause you look really pretty..."

Harper inwardly cringed, but forced a small smile. "Um, thanks..." She was about to leave when he spoke again.

"My name's Matt." The boy told her. 

The brunette nodded. "My name's-"

"Harper, I know." Matt cut her off, smiling cheekily.

Seeing the confused look on her face, he began to blush.

"Oh, um, you sit next to me in German." Matt explained.

Harper immediately felt bad for not recognising him. "Oh yeah! I'm so sorry, I've had a little bit of a stressful morning already and I'm actually in a rush to-"

"Oh, well I won't keep you any longer, then." Matt smiled sheepishly. "If it's okay, I'd like to take some pictures of you."

He lifted up the camera wrapped around his neck. Harper's eyebrows raised and she felt even more uncomfortable.

"What for?" She hesitated, playing with the ends of her jumper nervously. "Are you in photography, or..?"

Matt shook his head. "No, I just like to capture beautiful things. I'd give you copies."

Harper shook her head, trying to smile as sweetly as she could. "I'm sorry, but no thanks. I'm not very photogenic anyway, you might want to ask somebody else."

Matt's face fell. "Right." He muttered, sucking in a breath.

Harper pointed behind her. "I gotta go now... See you in German."

She rushed down the hall before he could say anything else.

☹☻

Next was chemistry with the arse that calls himself 'Mr Harris'. Nobody likes Mr Harris, except for Mr Harris himself. He's a jerk that gets a high out of picking on his students, particularly Stiles. And so, naturally, anybody that makes fun of Stiles, Harper hates.

Harper had thankfully been assigned lab partners with Stiles, sitting right next to him and behind Scott. Scott turned to talk to them while Mr Harris had his head to the board, drawing something to do with protons and electrons.

Chemistry was Harper's worst subject, so she knew that she should probably be taking notes or even listening, but she had bigger concerns than balancing out equations.

"Maybe it was my blood on the door." He spoke, but Harper knew it was probably just wishful thinking. Wouldn't he remember if he lost that much blood last night?

"Could have been animal blood." Stiles suggested. "You know, maybe you caught a rabbit or something."

Scott turned his nose up. "And did what?"

"Ate it?" She whispered, rolling her eyes.

Scott looked at them, worried. "Raw?" He questioned.

It took everything inside her not to laugh at Scott's messed up priorities while Stiles frowned.

"No, you stopped to bake it in your little werewolf oven." He spat sarcastically. "I don't know, you're the one who can't remember anything."

"Mr Stilinski," Harris' voice called from the front of the classroom. The three of them snapped their heads up in his direction, seeing him stood at the front of the class with his hands on his hips as he glared at them.

"If that's your idea of a hushed whisper, you might want to pull the headphones out every once in a while." He lectured. "I think you, Miss Verum, and Mr McCall would benefit from a little distance, yes?"

"No." Stiles protested.

Mr Harris just pointed to different areas of the classroom for Scott and Harper to move. Harper rolled her eyes as she grabbed her things, Scott doing the same.

"So annoying," Stiles muttered under his breath.

She moved to the only other spare seat in the classroom. She sat down next to a boy called Isaac Lahey. He was tall with a mop of curly light brown hair. Harper didn't know what the colour of his eyes were because as soon as she looked at him he shifted away from her gaze.

Isaac was an outcast at Beacon Hills, which sucked, because Harper felt like he'd be a nice person if he'd let people get to know him.

I should invite him to lunch later, she thought.

"Let me know if the separation anxiety gets to be too much." Harris called sarcastically while Scott took a seat next to a girl that Harper didn't know and in front of Jackson.

Stiles laughed back mockingly at him, slamming his pencil down onto the table.

Harper glanced back over at her new lab partner, seeing his hand wrap around his wrist as he rubbed at a dark bruise. The petite girl's eyebrows furrowed.

"That looks like it hurts." She pointed at it, her voice low so she didn't get told off by Mr Harris again.

Isaac's head snapped up and he looked down at his wrist, quickly pulling his sleeves down so she couldn't see it anymore. He didn't say anything but ignored her, his attention going back to the board. Harper inwardly yelled at herself for making him feel uncomfortable. It was the last thing she wanted to do.

After a minute or two, the girl that Scott was sat next to suddenly jumped up in her seat, rushing to the window. "Hey, I think they found something!" She called.

The entire class jumped out of their seats, moving quickly over to the windows to look out across the back school car park. Stiles and Scott stood either side of Harper as she tried to get a good look.

Some paramedics were wheeling a man out on a gurney towards the ambulance. The man had his eyes closed and he looked pretty much dead.

"That's not a rabbit." Scott whispered to his best friends.

The man on the gurney suddenly jumped up, screaming bloody murder. Everybody in the class jumped back in fear. Harper shrieked, backing up straight into Stiles' chest. She grabbed hold of his arm, in need of comfort. 

"This is good, this is good." Stiles told Scott, using his free hand to pat Scott's shoulder. "He got up, he's not dead. Dead guys can't do that."

Harper let go of Stiles arm as Scott turned to them, looking upset.

"Guys," he breathed. "I did that."

☹☻

"But dreams aren't memories." Stiles reminded Scott as they grabbed their lunch trays, moving towards their usual table. Harper wasn't able to ask Isaac if he wanted to eat with them due to the whole 'dead guy not being so dead' thing.

"Then it wasn't a dream." Scott stated as he took a seat. Stiles sat down opposite him so she took the seat next to Stiles. "Something happened last night, and I can't remember what."

He took his backpack off, throwing it underneath the table. Harper placed her own backpack on the back of her chair, not trusting the dirtiness of the cafeteria floor.

"What makes you so sure that Derek even has all the answers?" She asked, gently putting her tray down on the table. She had picked up a slice of pizza, an apple, and a carton of strawberry milkshake.

"Because during the full moon he wasn't changed." Scott sighed. "He was in total control while I was running around in the middle of the night attacking some totally innocent guy."

"You don't know that." Stiles argued.

"I don't not know it." Scott protested. "I can't go out with Allison. I have to cancel."

Harper shook her head. "No, you're not cancelling, okay?" She tried to reason with him. "You can't just cancel your whole life. We'll figure it out. You, me, and Stiles. All together, like always."

Before Scott could reply, a tray was placed down beside him before Lydia took a seat, much to their surprise. The strawberry blonde looked at them sceptically, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Figure what out?" She chirped, looking right at Harper.

The three of them all looked at each other desperately, making inhuman noises as they decided with their eyes who was going to speak.

Scott.

When you've been best friends for so long, talking without any verbal communication is actually pretty easy.

"Just, uh, homework." Scott smoothly replied.

"Yeah," Stiles added way too quickly, causing Harper to roll her eyes. He leaned closer to the brunette, whispering, "why is she sitting with us? She's only friends with you."

Harper shrugged as more people came and sat down at their table, instantly making her feel a little anxious. Danny, who she was actually friends with, sat down on the other side of her, Allison next to Scott and some random guy Harper had never spoken to in her life at the top of the table.

"Get up," Jackson demanded as he walked over, gesturing towards the guy Harper didn't know.

The boy looked up, rolling his dark eyes. "How come you never ask Danny to get up?" He whined.

Danny looked up from where he was eating a green apple. "Because I don't stare at his girlfriend's coin slot." He smirked.

The boy huffed in defeat, standing up and moving away from the table. Jackson sat down as Danny carried on talking, "so, I hear they're saying it's some type of animal attack." He tried to get a conversation going. "Probably a cougar."

"I heard mountain lion." Jackson spoke casually, leaning back in his seat.

"A cougar is a mountain lion." Lydia interrupted, causing Harper to smile a little as Jackson raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it?" She asked stupidly, causing Harper's face to fall again.

Lydia Martin was extremely smart, but she dumbed down all for her boyfriend's sake. Harper really wished she would embrace how she was both beautiful and clever, but she clearly cared more about popularity and status than her smarts, which sucked.

"Who cares?" Jackson shook his head. "The guy's probably some homeless tweaker who's gonna die anyway."

Sensitive much? What an arse.

Stiles spoke up. "Actually, I just found out who it is. Check it out."

He lifted his phone for the whole table to see. Everybody leaned in, curious to know the new news.

"The Sheriff's Department won't speculate on details of the incident, but confirmed the victim, Garrison Meyers, did survive the attack." The male reporter announced as a picture of an old man came up on the screen. "Meyers was taken to a local hospital where he remains in critical condition."

Stiles put his phone away as Scott spoke. "I know this guy." He realised.

"You do?" Allison asked.

"Yeah, when I used to take the bus, back when I lived with my dad." He looked at Harper and Stiles. "He was the driver."

Lydia twirled a piece of her strawberry blonde hair in between her fingers. "Can we talk about something slightly more fun, please? Like, oh, where are we going tomorrow night?"

Allison and Scott both turned to look at her in confusion.

Lydia stared at them as if it was obvious. "You said you and Scott were hanging out tomorrow night, right?" She asked.

Allison gulped before awkwardly replying. "Um, we were thinking of what we were going to do."

"Well, I am not sitting at home again watching lacrosse videos, so if the four of us are hanging out, we are doing something fun." Lydia wormed her way into Allison and Scott's date.

What was she doing? Harper knew for a fact Lydia wasn't stupid enough to not know they were meant to go alone as a date, so why is she doing this?

"You know what, Harper can come, too. Let's make it a triple date." Her green eyes landed on the petite girl who immediately shrunk in her chair.

Harper almost chocked on the milkshake she was drinking. "Huh? Oh, no thanks. I'm single."

Lydia squinted her eyes at Harper and Stiles. "I thought you two were dating." She pointed between Stiles and Harper, causing the two of them to go bright red and Scott to choke on his water. She shrugged. "Oh, well. I'll fix you up with some hot lacrosse player. Don't you worry your pretty little head."

Harper shook her head. "As nice as that sounds, I can't. Sorry, Lyds. I've got work."

Work was a complete lie. She only worked at the video store three shifts a week for a little extra money, but   
tomorrow she didn't have a one.

Lydia rolled her eyes, "c'mon, Harper. I know so many guys that want a taste of the 'British Beauty'." She put air quotes around the nickname that she apparently had.

Stiles huffed from beside her. Of course he knew about the amount of boys that wanted to date Harper- he was one of them, after all. He heard them talking in the locker rooms about her and it made him feel sick.

She shot her an awkward smile. "Next time." Harper lied.

"Hanging out?" Scott turned to Allison, who lowered her water bottle and shrugged awkwardly. "Like the four of us? Do you wanna hang out, like us and them?"

Stiles was practically dying from beside Harper, cringing and shaking his head, even going as far as to cover his eyes at one point to stop himself from watching the car crash that was Scott McCall in an awkward situation.

"Yeah, I guess." She shrugged again. "Sounds fun."

Jackson spoke up, "you know what else sounds fun?" He lifted a fork up from the table. "Stabbing myself in the face with this fork."

Lydia snatched the fork out of his hands. "How about bowling? You love to bowl." She suggested eagerly.

Harper couldn't help but snicker, knowing had much Scott sucked at bowling.

"Yeah, with actual competition." Jackson sneered.

Allison leaned forwards, "how do you know we're not actual competition?" She smirked. She turned to Scott. "You can bowl, right?"

Harper had to look away as Scott said, "sort of."

What are you doing, McCall?

Jackson crossed his arms. "Is it sort of or yes?" He squinted his eyes at him, mocking him.

"Yes." Scott lied confidently. "In fact, I'm a great bowler."

☹☻

Harper burst out laughing as soon as they left the lunch room, coming down the stairs.

"You're a terrible bowler!" She chuckled. "You can't even get one pin down!"

"I know!" Scott cried. "I'm such an idiot."

"God, it was like watching a car wreck." Stiles sighed. "I mean, first it turned into the whole group date thing. And then out of nowhere comes that phrase." He planted his head into his hands.

"Hang out." Scott quoted, cringing.

"You don't hang out with hot girls, okay? It's like death. Once it's hanging out, you might as well be her gay best friend. You and Danny can start hanging out." Stiles ranted.

Harper raised an eyebrow at him. "Ouch, Stilinski. There goes my self esteem." She spoke sarcastically, causing him to turn at her with wide eyes. "Am I really that bad looking?"

Stiles realised he had messed up, wishing he could take back his words immediately.

He began to splutter. "What? No! I didn't mean to make you feel like that! You're not ugly. You're the opposite. Like, beautiful. Hot. Really, really... Ho- Okay, you know what-"

Harper grinned at how red he had grown, giggling. "Shut up, Stiles. It's okay,"

Scott scoffed at them before continuing with his problems. "How is this happening? I either killed a guy or I didn't."

"I don't think Danny likes me very much." Stiles began, starting his own topic.

Harper rolled her eyes at Stiles before replying to Scott. "You didn't kill him, Scott."

"I ask Allison on a date, and now we're hanging out." He sighed.

Stiles frowned. "Am I not attractive to gay guys?"

Scott ignored him. "I make first line, and the team captain wants to destroy me, and now..." he lifted up his watch. "I'm gonna be late for work!"

"Wait, Scott!" Stiles called as Scott walked away. "You didn't... Am I attractive to gay guys?" He yelled after him.

The girl laughed, catching Stiles' attention. "Are you trying to tell us something, Stiles? Do you like boys?" She teased him.

Stiles rolled his eyes. "No." He claimed. "Do you think I'm attractive to gay guys?"

She shrugged. "Not sure, since I'm not gay or a guy. But, I do know one thing. You're certainly attractive to girls." She winked at him before walking down the hall, leaving him with his mouth hung wide open.

Neither Stiles or Harper knew where her sudden confidence had come from, but they both liked it.


	9. chapter seven

Beep! Beep!

Harper groaned, her brown eyes fluttering open when she heard her phone vibrating beside her on her bed. Yawning, she attempted to ignore it, pulling her covers further over her body, but it didn't stop.

Beep! Beep!

Beep! Beep!

Grunting, the Verum girl leaned up in bed using her elbows, grabbing her phone off the charger and reading the screen. Stiles was calling her. Sighing, she swiped the screen to answer.

"Hello?" Harper yawned.

Stiles scoffed on the other end of the phone. "Were you seriously sleeping? At eleven at night?"

Harper replied. "Have to get rid of the bags under my eyes somehow. What do you want, Stilinski?"

"Scott needs us to come to the school with him. I'll explain when you come outside." Stiles spoke.

Harper frowned. "You're outside?! Oh my God, of course you're outside." She sighed. "Do I have time to get dressed?"

"No," Scott butted in. "Hurry."

She huffed, hanging up the phone before quietly sneaking downstairs. Rose had gone to work today since she was feeling a lot better, so she was in bed right now. Harper so glad she's not as sick anymore.

As silently as the young girl could, she slipped on her Adidas shoes before sneaking outside. Only then did she remember that she wasn't just wearing any normal pyjamas, she was wearing her Hello Kitty ones. She mentally cursed herself, knowing that the two boys would defiantly make fun of her for this.

Harper approached the jeep parked on her driveway, climbing inside. Only seconds later did the snickering start, mainly from Scott. Stiles, for one, thought it was quite cute.

"Is that..." Scott laughed. "Is that Hello Kitty?"

Rolling her eyes, she nodded. "I didn't have time to change!"

"That doesn't explain why you still own a pair of Hello Kitty pyjamas." Scott sniggered.

Harper huffed. "They're old."and

"How old?"

"Okay, so they're not old but I don't care." The English girl snapped. "I came out here to help you, McCall, but I'm honestly feeling so attacked right now."

Stiles chuckled, starting up the engine as he began to drive to school. "He bullies me for my Batman pyjamas, too."

"Scott McCall is a bully." Harper stated.

Scott's eyes widened. "Now I'm being attacked! Two against one isn't fair."

"Is when it's two humans against a werewolf who also happens to be a massive bully." She joked, the three of them all laughing quietly until they began to approach the school, their laughter dying down as they all became more serious.

"Seriously though guys. Why am I here?" She shivered in the back seat, wrapping her arms around her body.

"Scott went to Derek's house." Stiles explained. "Derek told him if he wanted to know what happened then he had to go and find out for himself. So, we're going to the bus that Meyer's was attacked on."

"Of course we're doing illegal stuff." Harper muttered under her breath. "We can't even do cool illegal stuff! We're literally breaking into the school. We're so lame."

The two boys ignored Harper as Stiles pulled up in front of the school gates. Scott immediately climbed out of the car, Stiles going to follow when Scott turned to him, stopping him right in his tracks.

"Hey, no, just me. Someone needs to keep watch." Scott explained.

"How come I'm always the guy keeping watch? Plus, we have Harper. She can keep watch." He gestured towards the brunette.

Scott sighed. "If someone comes out of that school then you're screwed, Stiles. I can run fast, you'd trip and fall and get caught. Besides, Harper can't drive."

Stiles just huffed. "Okay, why's it starting to feel like you're Batman and I'm Robin?" He snapped. "I don't want to be Robin all the time."

The werewolf looked at him in disbelief. "Nobody's Batman and Robin any of the time."

Stiles' face fell. "Not even some of the time?" He whined.

"Just stay here." Scott spat.

Stiles groaned, rolling his eyes. "Oh, my God! Fine!"

He made his way back towards the car, going back into the drivers seat. Sighing, Harper climbed over the back seat and to where Scott had previously been sat. Stiles didn't say anything but looked out to where Scott had climbed over the metal fencing, a glum look on his face.

"Hey," she frowned. "If it makes you feel any better, I always thought Batman was kind of overrated anyway."

Stiles looked towards me and scoffed. "That's because you think superheroes in general are overrated, full stop."

Harper pursed her lips together. He had got her there. Despite growing up with two boys as her best friends, she had always been too much into Disney to care about their Marvel and whatever stuff. Harper didn't get what was so cool about superheroes, but she still watched the movies with Stiles on their movie nights.

She did like Spiderman, though.

"Still," she huffed. "You don't need to be Batman to be amazing, Stiles. Please, please don't feel like you're any less than Scott now that he's got some powers. It kills me that you think so lowly of yourself."

Stiles looked at her, his face softening. "You mean that?" He asked quietly, butterflies in his stomach.

Harper chuckled. "Of course, you dork. You're my best friend, Stiles. I don't know what I would do without you. I don't think I'd be myself it wasn't for you. After my parents died, I wanted to be with them, too. Stiles, you saved me. You're a hero. My favourite hero."

His eyes shone with tears as she mentioned how he had helped her after her parents. Like most teenagers that lose their parents, she wanted to die, too. Harper didn't do anything to physically harm herself, but she had wanted to. She confided in Stiles, who knew exactly what she was going through. He helped Harper. He saved her, as cheesy as that sounds.

"You..." Stiles paused to gulp. "You saved me, too. When my mum died..."

Harper shook her head, pulling him into her arms. It was kind of awkward since they were both sat in separate seats, but they made it work, their bodies moulding together as if they were built for each other.

"I don't want you to be Batman." She whispered in his ear.

Stiles smiled. "Yeah, maybe being Stiles Stilinski isn't so bad." He paused. "After all, Batman doesn't have you."

They both pulled away, her eyes widened and her heart hammering in her chest. Harper's eyes flickered from his beautiful hazel ones to his soft lips. All she could hear was the blood pumping in her ears and the seat under Stiles as he leaned in slightly.

Holy crap.

Harper leaned in a little too, a blush covering her face as his eyelids slowly fluttered closed. She was about to close her own eyes as their lips were only a couple of centimetres away from each other, when something in the corner of the corner of her eye caught her attention.

"Scott," Harper breathed, causing Stiles' eyes to snap open.

He frowned, looking hurt. "Scott?" He repeated.

"Beep your horn." She hissed quickly, pointing towards the school building were torches were flashing.

Someone was going to catch him.

Stiles suddenly snapped out of whatever trance he was in, moving to face towards the wheel, slamming down on it repeatedly. Harper watched anxiously as ten seconds later Scott came bounding out of the bus, racing towards them. He jumped on top of a car effortlessly, before swinging and doing a flip straight over the fence, rolling as he went down.

"Come on, come on, come on." Stiles muttered as Harper climbed back into the back seat, flopping onto the ground and letting out a 'humpf' as she landed on her stomach.

Scott quickly climbed in. "Go! Go! Go! Go!" He yelled.

Stiles scrambled for his keys, finally starting the engine a second later. Harper didn't even have a chance to climb onto the seat before Stiles was driving backwards, taking a sharp turn, causing her body to hit against the seats.

"Did it work? Did you remember?" She heard him yell above the sound of the wind and the screeching tires.

"Yeah! I was there last night..." His voice trailed off. "Where's Harper gone?"

"Huh?" Stiles called.

"Down here, idiots." Harper mumbled, finally having enough time to pull herself onto the seats before Stiles could make another sharp turn. She immediately put her seat belt on, rubbing her hip.

"Sorry." Stiles winced.

"Anyway," Scott continued. "And the blood, a lot of it was mine."

Harper frowned, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "So you did attack him then?" She asked, taking her hands off of her hip to hold the two seats in front of her.

"No." Scott replied, sounding a mixture of frantic and relieved, as if he couldn't wait to tell them the news. "I saw glowing eyes in the bus, but they weren't mine. It was Derek."

Not much of a surprise, to be honest.

"What about the driver?" Stiles asked, taking a left.

"I think I was actually trying to protect him." Scott explained.

"Wait, why would Derek help you remember that he attacked the driver?" Harper asked, deeply confused.

"That's what I don't get." Scott huffed in annoyance.

Stiles spoke up. "It's gotta be a pack thing." Harper raised an eyebrow, waiting for his reply. "Like an initiation. You do the kill together."

"Because ripping someone's throat out is a real bonding experience?" She scoffed sarcastically.

"Yeah, but Scott didn't do it." Stiles called above all of the noise. He turned to look at Scott. "Which means you're not a killer. And it also means that-"

Scott inturrupted Stiles with a grin, "I can go out with Allison..."

Harper scoffed and Stiles looked at him like he was stupid. "I was going to say it means you won't kill me or Harps." He squinted his eyes at him.

"Oh, yeah." Scott realised, cocking his head to the side slightly. "That, too."

☹☻

You know how Harper told Lydia and the others that she was not going to be coming on their little date night yesterday?

Well apparently she was now.

Lydia had set Harper up with one of the guys from the lacrosse team, just like she had promised. His name was Harry Dallas and apparently he was on first line, so he was one of the best.

If Harper was thinking of the right Harry, then he has curly black hair, pale skin with freckles and icy blue eyes. He's cute, but from what she'd heard, a total player.

Plus, she didn't want to go on a date with anyone. The only person Harper wanted to go on a date with was Stiles. Stiles would make this whole evening so much more fun and relaxing. They haven't talked about our almost-kiss yet, but luckily it wasn't awkward around them today at school.

The final bell rang, much to her relief. She scooped up her books, chucking them in her backpack before zipping it up and throwing it over her shoulder, rushing out the classroom and to her locker. By the time Harper had gotten there, Stiles was already there, his head in his phone.

Smiling, Harper walked over, opening her locker right beside him. He jumped, looking up at Harper and grinning as he put his phone into his back pocket.

"Hey, am I giving you a ride home?" He asked as she shoved the books she didn't need into her locker.

Sighing, Harper turned to face him. "I would honestly love for you to, but I can't. Lydia's taking me over to Allison's." She groaned.

"Why?" Stiles asked, eyebrows furrowed together. "Girl stuff?"

"You know that date that Lydia wanted me to go on?" She mentioned, causing Stiles' face to fall. "Yeah, well, she was pretty serious. And there's no way I'm getting out of it. Lydia, Allison and Scott want me there. Scott for moral support, and to make Allison happy. Scott told Lydia that I didn't even have work today. What kind of a best friend is he?"

Stiles couldn't agree more with her last statement. Scott knew that Stiles liked Harper, and then he went and set her up with some lacrosse player because he was nervous? Stiles was going to be having words with him later.

Stiles couldn't help but feel both mad and disappointed. He wished he was the one taking Harper on a date, not some stupid lacrosse player. Well, he was a lacrosse player technically, but whatever. He was still mad.

Stiles rolled his eyes. "That's stupid." he muttered. "Why can't you just cancel? We can watch movies together. My dad's not home."

Harper smiled slightly. "As amazing as that offer sounds, Lydia has literally threatened me already twice this day via text message."

Before Stiles even had a chance to reply, a hand grabbed her shoulder, yanking her backwards and making her jump. Harper was glad to see her favourite strawberry blonde stood there and not Derek Hale.

She gave Harper a grin. "Come on, Harps. We have a date to get you ready for." She turned to look at Stiles. "Sorry, Miles, we have to go now." She forced a fake smile.

"His name is Stiles, Lydia." Harper sighed.

Lydia stopped, thinking for a second, her eyebrows raising. "What the hell is a Stiles?" She asked. 

Harper sent the hazel eyed boy an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Stiles." She gave him a short hug which he briefly returned, his eyes not showing any sign of happiness as he forced a smile.

"It's okay," he lied. "Go."

Harper knew he was lying, but before she could protest, Lydia was already dragging her down the hall, her freshly painted nails digging into her arm as she looked back at her best friend.

He was already gone.

☹☻

The three teenage girls had already picked up an outfit from Harper's house, so now they had stopped at Allison's. Lydia had claimed that Allison would need more work than Harper, since the shortest brunette apparently dressed better than the other brunette.

Harper don't know how Allison can be around Lydia seven plus hours a day and still have an average self esteem.

Allison was currently going through her wardrobe while Lydia and Harper sat on her double bed, waiting for her to pick out something cute. So far Lydia had rated all of her shirts a 'nope' out of ten.

A sly grin crossed Allison's face as she turned around, showing them a floral kind of brown t-shirt. Harper didn't speak up, knowing she could do better. However, Lydia didn't hold back.

"Mm," she hummed for a moment, as if actually considering it. "Pass."

Allison pulled out another colourful shirt.

"Pass." Lydia rolled her eyes before sighing and getting up, walking over towards her wardrobe. "Let me see."

"Pass." She went through all of her shirts. "Pass." She stopped at one. "Pass on all of it." Lydia shook her head. "God, Allison, respect for your taste is dwindling by the second."

Harper climbed off of the bed, walking towards her wardrobe. She pushed back a couple of shirts before picking out a black one with a sequin front.

"What about this?" She suggested, holding it up against the tall brunette.

Allison looked down at it, smiling slightly. Lydia also let a small smirk cross her face, her finger going up to twiddle with a lock of her strawberry blonde hair.

"Hmm, this." She agreed, snatching it from Harper's hands and holding it up herself.

The door suddenly opened and Allison's father, Chris Argent, walked inside, looking down mindlessly at the ground as he put his bottle green jacket on.

Allison looked up, forcing a smile. "Dad, hello." She softly spoke.

Chris winced, "right. I'm sorry, I completely forgot to knock." He pointed towards the door.

Lydia smiled, dropping onto Allison's bed and striking a pose. "Hey, Mr Argent."

Chris gave a small smile. "Hi, Lydia." He turned to Harper and nodded. "Hello, again, Harper."

Allison spoke up, clearly sensing the awkwardness in the air. "Dad, do you need something?" She asked politely.

He frowned. "I wanted to tell you that you'll be staying in tonight." He warned her.

Lydia's face dropped while Harper couldn't help but feel a little happy. If Allison couldn't go then the whole thing would be cancelled and she could go to Stiles' for the last minute movie night he spoke about earlier.

"What? I'm going out with my friends tonight." Allison protested, yet her voice still didn't raise.

"Not when some animal out there is attacking people." He shook his head. "It's out of my hands. There's a curfew. No one's allowed out past 9:30 pm."

Allison huffed, throwing the shirt onto her bed.

"Hey," her dad warned again. "No more arguing." He sent a smile before leaving, closing the door behind him.

Allison sighed, folding her arms across her chest, staring in the spot that he had been. Lydia stood up, scoffing. "Someone's daddy's little girl." She smirked.

"Sometimes. But not tonight." Allison walked over to her desk, putting a purple knitted beanie on her head. She opened the window, walking out onto the roof.

Lydia and Harper shared a look before going after her, poking their heads out of the window. Allison walked along the flat roofing of the house.

"What are you doing?" Harper hissed worriedly at her, her mum-friend instincts kicking in.

Allison didn't reply, doing a flip off of the building. Harper's eyes widened as she landed on the ground below, letting out a deep breath. "Eight years gymnastics." She grinned at them. "You coming?"

"I'll take the stairs." Lydia nodded, staring at Allison as if she was crazy.

"Me too," Harper scoffed. "I can't even jump two stairs without twisting my ankle."

☹☻

Music thumped through the speakers of the bowling alley as the three girls walked inside, all having changed into their new outfits. Harper didn't put much effort into hers. She just wore her favourite black jeans and a cute jumper.

As soon as they walked through the door, Scott was all over Allison and Lydia was all over Jackson. Harper smiled awkwardly as the guy she recognised as Harry Dallas walked over, a small smirk on his face. He gave her a quick hug before pulling away.

"You know," he smirked more. "When Lydia told me that you were single, I was surprised. Someone as beautiful as you should have a boyfriend."

She didn't know how to reply, so she just shot him a small smile. "Thanks," she lied. "So, you any good at bowling?"

Allison and Scott had walked over to get their bowling balls while Jackson and Lydia sat at the booth they were in, putting all their names into the system, leaving the two of them to sit at the benches.

Harry scoffed. "Obviously. I'm good at every sport." He bragged before raising an eyebrow at Harper. "What about you?"

Harper hummed a little, "I'm okay, I guess."

His cockiness and comments were already putting her off of him. Stiles would have been a much better date. She should have convinced him to come on a 'fake-date' with her, maybe then she wouldn't be stuck with this douche.

"I'll take that as a no." He spoke dismissively before walking towards the booth.

Harper watched in shock as he went and sat down opposite Jackson and Lydia before following him. How on earth could somebody be so rude?

Lydia went up first, of course not without Jackson accompanying her. He held her from behind in one of the most cheesiest positions Harper had ever seen, his arms wrapped around her as he guided her hand with the ball.

Both shots she missed, a huff escaping her lips as she moved back towards the bench. "I'm so bad at this." She grumbled, sitting down.

Allison went up next, a determined look on her face as she approached our alley with the bowling ball in her hands. She eyed up the centre before bowling. The ball rolled quickly, knocking out all of the pins at the end.

Scott, Lydia and Harper grinned at her. "Somebody brought their A game." Lydia laughed lightly.

Harper noticed Scott move in his seat anxiously as Jackson went up. He kept gulping and playing with his hands, his head down low as if he was avoiding everything and everyone. Harper knew that he was worried about embarrassing himself in front of Allison.

He didn't want to let her down.

Jackson went, getting a strike just like Allison. He turned around, a cocky smirk on his face as Lydia whooped, clapping her hands together excitedly for her boyfriend. Jackson sat back down, wrapping an arm around Lydia's shoulder before turning to face Scott.

"You're up, McCall." He almost spat.

Allison nudged him as Scott rubbed his hands together. "You can do it, Scott." She told him.

Harper sat on the edge of her seat as Scott got up, grabbing a green ball and moving towards the alley. He stood there and stared at it for a second before taking a deep breath and bowling...

But the ball went straight into the gutter.

The short brunette sighed as Jackson burst out laughing, an actual smile on his face for the first time that night.

She glared at him. "Jackson." She spat.

He kept laughing causing Allison to turn to him, "mind shutting up?"

Jackson shook his head, his face red. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Actual tears were in his eyes as he laughed even harder. "I'm just flashing back to the words 'I'm a great bowler'."

"Maybe he just needs a little warm-up." Allison suggested sweetly.

Jackson scoffed. "Yeah, maybe he just needs the kiddy bumpers."

Lydia and Harry joined in with the laughter, much to Harper and Allison's disapproval.

Harper ignored them. "Just aim for the middle, Scott." She sent him a comforting smile, which he weakly returned.

Jackson spoke up again. "How about you aim for anything except for the gutter?"

Allison glared. "Let him concentrate."

Scott exhaled, turning around.

Harry moved to face her. "So, you and McCall... How long have you been friends?" He asked.

Harper raised an eyebrow, wondering why he was asking this. "Since I was eleven, when I moved to Beacon Hills."

"Ah, yes. From England, right?"

Harper rolled her eyes. "What gave it away? The accent?" She spoke sarcastically.

Harry frowned. "No need to be rude." He muttered. "Rude isn't cute on girls."

"Or guys," she spat back.

He ignored her turning back to face the game. Scott rolled the ball again, and this time it went right down the middle. An excited grin crossed Harper's face until the ball began to glide left, landing straight into the gutter again. She huffed.

"Oh!" Jackson mocked, laughing again. "Oh, great job, McCall. Man, you're a pro."

Harry went up next, managing a strike. Harper went up after him and got a spare, getting half down the first time. Bowling was meant to be fun, but she wasn't having any.

Between the comments that Jackson was making to Scott and the way Harry wouldn't stop hitting on her, Harper was overwhelmed with the need to just scream. She made a mental note to scream into her pillow when she got home.

It came to Scott's turn again, but this time Allison rushed up to him before he could bowl. She whispered something in his ear, leaving him grinning and her blushing as she walked away. Harper had a feeling she new what she had told him, or along the lines of it.

Scott looked more confident now as he bowled. Whatever Allison had said to Scott had clearly worked, because he managed a strike. Harper grinned, clapping for her best friend as Allison cheered for him too.

Lydia turned to glare at Allison. "What did you say to him?" She asked.

Allison grinned, giggling a little. "Oh, I just gave him something to think about." She spoke as Scott sat back down beside her.

The game went on for another half an hour, laughs between Scott and Allison, but not the rest of us. Harry currently had his hand on her thigh, so she was more than happy to go and get the next round of drinks when Lydia mentioned it.

Harper sighed as she walked over to the drinks bar, sitting down at the stool. A worker came over, smiling. "Hey, what can I get ya?" She asked perkily.

"Ur, six cokes, please." She mumbled, pulling a twenty dollar bill out of her purse. She handed it to the worker who came back with a tray with the drinks of them. "Thanks."

Harper slowly walked over, careful not to spill them. As she placed the tray down on the mini table, Allison turned to Jackson, a sly grin on her face.

"Jackson, how many strikes is that?" She teased.

Jackson grumbled. "It's six."

"Something just clicked, I guess." Scott looked at Allison knowingly.

She beamed brightly back at him. "Maybe it's just natural talent." She winked.

Lydia stood up, smiling directly at the teenage werewolf. "I could use a little natural talent." She claimed. "You mind helping me out this time, Scott?"

"No, you're good. Go for it." Scott nodded.

Lydia scoffed. "Thanks for the vote of confidence." She straightened her shirt before moving over and grabbing a ball.

Jackson got up. "Hey, I'll help." He offered.

Lydia turned to face him, a dry smile on her face. "How about I just try this on my own?"

Jackson sat back down and Harper almost felt bad for him.

Key word: almost.

Lydia smirked before bowling, the ball perfectly knocking down every single pin. She turned around and grinned, sitting back down beside Jackson, who looked just as shocked as the rest of the group.

"I think I'm getting the hang of it."

Allison frowned, "that was sort of perfect form."

Lydia twirled a lock of her hair in between her fingers. "Was it?"

☹☻

When bowling was over Harper was so thankful she almost cried. Without even saying goodbye to Harry, she had left. The brunette texted Allison, Scott and Lydia that she needed to go to the shop before she went home so that was why she left so quickly, but Scott probably knew she was lying.

Harper walked home in the cold, hugging her grey jumper closer to her shivering body as she looked down. Harper only passed a few people since it was ten at night and there was a curfew, so she was surprised when a car pulled up right beside her.

Harper wasn't surprised when she realised the car was a blue jeep.

Without even waiting for Stiles to say anything, Harper opened the door and climbed inside. He looked worriedly at her as she strapped her seatbelt in, sighing at the warmth of the car.

"Why are you walking home alone at ten at night?" He asked, not yet bothering to start the car.

Her teeth chattered as she shot him a smile. "My date was an obnoxious jerk and I wanted to leave as quickly as possible." Harper briefly explained.

Stiles raised an eyebrow. "You could have called me, you know. I would have come and picked you up." He frowned. "There's a werewolf out there killing people and you're just walking around. What if you had gotten bitten? Or killed? What if-"

Harper grabbed his warm hand, stopping him from talking. "But I'm fine." She softly spoke. "I will call you next time, I swear."

Stiles' face softened. "I just... I care a lot about what happens to you. I don't ever want to hear that something bad happened to you." His voice was barely above a whisper, both his hands cupping her freezing ones, warming them up.

Harper stared straight back at him, overwhelmed. "I care a lot about you too." She suddenly frowned, realising something. "So why are you out at ten O'clock at night when there was a curfew set by your dad?"

Stiles sighed, letting go of her cold hands. She immediately missed their warmth, wanting nothing more than their return. "The driver succumbed to his wounds." He said.

Her eyes widened, "he's dead?"

The awkward teenager nodded. "I'm going to Scott's house to tell him right now." He explained. "Do you wanna come or shall I drop you home?"

She hummed, as if debating it. "Hm... Go to Scott's house to get yelled at Melissa, or go home where my bed awaits me so I can forget this whole day even happened?"

Stiles frowned, "what happened on your date?"

Harper hook her head. "I'll tell you in the morning. Can you drop me home, please?"

Stiles nodded before starting the jeep and starting to drive. They sat in a comfortable silence until he pulled up in front of her house. Harper smiled at him, unbuckling her seatbelt and leaning across the seats to wrap him in a hug.

He returned it, his head going into the crook of her neck as she inhaled his scent. He smelt like clean laundry and faintly of the cologne he put on every morning. She slowly released him.

"Thank you, Stiles." Harper whispered.

"You're welcome." He hummed.

They sat there for a few moments, just staring at each other, until Harper saw a light go on upstairs in her grandma's bedroom. She forced a smile at him.

"Goodnight," Harper opened the door.

"Sweet dreams." He called.


	10. 8

The next day, Stiles picked Harper up before school as usual. Harper waved goodbye to her grandma, who was getting ready for work, and darted out the door, clutching her backpack. She jumped into the very familiar jeep, her smile dropping when she saw the anxious look on Stiles' face.

"Judging by the smile on your face I'm guessing Scott didn't tell you what happened last night, did he?" Stiles sighed as he backed off of the driveway and began their usual route to school.

Harper frowned. "No. What is it? Is he okay?"

"Scott's fine." Stiles explained. "But he found out a few things. Like, how the person that bit Scott was an Alpha, and the Alpha is hanging around Beacon Hills."

Her eyes widened. "If you said that to me a couple of months ago, I would have thought you were absolutely crazy. I hate that that sentence actually makes sense to me." She groaned, running a hand through her hair.

Stiles scoffed. "Yeah, well, our lives are very far from normal now. So... what happened on your date last night? You said you'd tell me."

The brunette sighed, twiddling some hair in between her fingers. "Harry Dallas is one of the biggest losers ever, is what I learned."

Stiles frowned. "What did he do?"

"He was just really rude and he was flirting with me the entire time. I mean, I know that it's meant to be a group date or whatever but when he touched my thigh I flipped."

Stiles' eyes widened and he gripped the steering wheel tighter. "He did that?" He grumbled.

Harper nodded. "I left without saying goodbye."

Stiles chuckled dryly. "You should have slapped him or something."

Harper rolled her eyes. "When have I ever hit anyone before? I would have gotten kicked out, too."

"You hit me once in middle school." Stiles raised his eyebrows.

"You stole my juice." Harper chuckled fondly at the memory. "And it wasn't even that hard."

"It left a bruise." Stiles chimed.

Harper cringed. "Sorry."

The boy with the buzzcut just shook his head and laughed. "Don't apologise. It was, like, four years ago."

"Still."

About eight minutes later he pulled up into the back of the school carpack and Harper climbed out, thanking him for the ride. He just shrugged it off as the bell rang.

"I'll see you in history."

☹☻

History rolled around and the class were now getting their exam papers back with their grades on them. Harper watched anxiously as students got their papers back, either grinning or sighing in disappointment. She had studied so hard for this test, she really hoped she did well.

Harper was sat next to Stiles when she heard him start whispering to Scott, "if Derek isn't the Alpha, if he's not the one who bit you, then who did?"

Honestly, she had been wondering the same thing.

Scott didn't say anything for a moment, his shoulders finally moving up to shrug. "I don't know." He whispered back, not turning around to face them both.

Stiles rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Did the Alpha kill the bus driver?" He asked.

"I don't know," the werewolf whispered back.

Stiles sighed loudly, thinking for a moment, before leaning forwards again and whispering, "does Allison's dad know about the-"

"I don't know!" Scott suddenly turned around to yell at him, cutting Stiles off.

Harper frowned as everybody turned around to face the two boys. "Jeez." Stiles awkwardly rubbed his neck before his exam paper was placed on the desk in front of him.

He held it up to show the brunette, showing her he got an A. Harper grinned back at him as Scott received his own paper. Even from here she could see the massive, red 'D-' scribbled onto the front. Her grin faltered.

Stiles leaned forwards. "Dude you need to study more."

Scott didn't say anything but slammed his test back down onto the table.

"He was joking, Scott. It's just one test, though. You'll make it up." Harper comforted him as the teacher planted her test on the table. She grinned, "hey, I got an A!"

Stiles smiled, "see. Harper and I study together and we get's A's. If you want you can study with us."

The shaggy haired brunette sighed, shaking his head. "I'm studying with Allison after school today." He told them.

Stiles looked surprised. "That's my boy." He smirked.

Harper mentally rolled her eyes at him.

"We're just studying."

"Uh-huh, no you're not."

"No, I'm not?" Scott repeated quietly, confused.

"Not if I'm forced to live vicariously through you." He claimed. "If you go to her house today and squander that colossal opportunity, I swear to God I'll have you de-balled."

"Okay." Scott turned around quickly. "Just stop with the questions, man."

Stiles nodded. "Done. No more questions. No more talk about the Alpha or Derek." He paused for a moment. "Especially Derek, who still scares me."

Harper giggled a little at Stiles' confession before the bell rang. She quickly stood up, chucking all of her books into her bag.

"I have to quickly go and pick up some things from my maths class, but I'll meet you guys after, yeah?" She told them.

Scott nodded. "Okay."

Harper smiled and began to walk away. Just as she was half way out the door she heard them start talking again, or more like Scott start talking again.

"You always squander your opportunity with Harper-"

"Shut up!"

Harper's heart skipped a beat as she stepped foot out of the classroom, pretending not to have heard the last part of their conversation. She could feel her cheeks heat up and she felt extremely overwhelmed.

Stiles liked her?

☹☻

"How was last period with Mr Rellings?" Harper asked, laughing slightly at her best friend who just shook his head and glared at her.

"Awful. I need you to help me study algebra, like desperately. I have an exam tomorrow on it and I'm most probably going to fail if I don't get immediate help." Stiles stated dramatically, rolling his eyes.

Harper smiled. "We can go to your house and study, if you want. My grandma's working until eight tonight so I'm free." She offered sweetly.

Stiles' eyes widened. "Really? Oh my God, you're an absolute life saver, Harper Verum." He grabbed her into a hug, squeezing her tight enough for the air to escape her lungs for a second. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So much."

Harper simply laughed. "No need to thank me. Did you forget I barely passed my algebra test?"

Stiles huffed. "Yeah, but you still passed, which is better than I would do. " He exclaimed as he climbed into the jeep, throwing his backpack into the back seat. Harper sat in the other seat, doing the same with her bag.

Stiles began to drive out of the car park when a figure dressed all in black jumped in front of the jeep, holding his hand out for them to stop. Stiles panicked, his foot slamming immediately onto the breaks, causing the tires to screech.

"Oh my God," Harper held a hand on her heart, blinking as she recognised the figure as Derek Hale.

He was pale and sweaty, only standing for a few more seconds before collapsing on the ground. Her eyes widened and she quickly unbuckled her seatbelt, rushing out to help. Car horns began to beep from behind the jeep as Scott rushed over.

"What the hell?" He hissed at Stiles, who climbed out the car after Scott.

Harper kneeled down on the road, Scott beside her. "What are you doing here?" Scott spoke lowly so that nobody else could hear.

"I was shot." Derek breathed, panting as he held his arm.

Stiles frowned. "Guys, he's not looking so good."

"Why aren't you healing?" Harper asked him, brushing the fallen hair out of her eyes and tucking it behind her ears.

Derek shook his head, wheezing slightly. "I can't." He mumbled. "It was a different kind of bullet."

Stiles' eyes widened. "A silver bullet?"

"No, you idiot." Derek finally looked up to glare at him. She was shocked out how much sicker he looked up close, red rimmed his eyes and he looked like a walking corpse.

Scott looked like he had realised something. "Wait. That's what she said when she meant you had forty eight hours." He told Derek.

The older werewolf panted, looking frantically at Harper's other best friend. "What? Who said forty eight hours?" He asked weakly.

"The one who shot you."

Derek's eyes suddenly flashed one of the brightest blues Harper had ever seen, his entire face flinching as he scrunched up, groaning and taking deep breaths to try and stop the pain. She frowned, actually worried for him.

More car horns sounded and Scott looked around worriedly before turning back to face Derek. "What are you doing?" He hissed. "Stop that!"

Derek glared, his eyes going blue again. "That's what I'm trying to tell you." He spat angrily. "I can't."

"Derek, get up."

The car horns wouldn't stop now, the annoying repeated noise drilling in Harper's brain as people began to stop and watch, wondering why on earth some twenty-something year old man had collapsed in Beacon Hills High's car park.

"Scott." She warned him as she saw Jackson and Allison get out of their separate cars. "You might want to hurry up."

Scott nodded, going behind Derek to lift him up. "Help me put him in your car." Scott instructed, guiding the werewolf to his feet.

He put Derek into the backseat, shutting the door and looking around anxiously. The pale and sick Derek looked at Scott helplessly, "I need you to find out what kind of bullet they used."

Scott frowned. "How the hell am I supposed to do that?"

Derek didn't skip a beat. "She's an Argent. She's with them."

"Why should I help you?"

Derek breathed heavily. "Because you need me."

Harper looked up, seeing Allison start to walk over. "Fine." He snapped quickly. "I'll try."

She climbed into the passenger seat as Scott backed away from the car. Stiles hopped into the drivers and turned to face Scott. "I hate you for this so much." He groaned before driving off.


	11. 9

Stiles had been driving aimlessly for about an hour, Derek complaining in the back while Harper used Stiles' phone to try and get a hold of Scott, who was not answering. She groaned loudly, feeling annoyance bubble inside her as she texted him.

To Scott: have you found it yet?

Much to her surprise, about half a minute later, Stiles' phone dinged from her lap, causing her to jump up a little in excitement. She quickly read the text.

"He says he needs more time." Harper rolled her eyes, her optimism falling faster than her grades so far this year.

Stiles just huffed. "Come on." He frowned angrily as he turned to Derek. "Hey, try not to bleed out on my seats, okay? We're almost there."

Harper sighed a little at Stiles' lack of sympathy. Derek didn't look up from where he was concentrating on keeping awake. "Almost where?" His voice was soft and croaky, like he didn't even have it in him to be rude.

Stiles sighed as if it was obvious. "Your house."

Derek's head finally snapped up, a new found energy within him. "What?" He replied. "No, you can't take me there."

"Why not?" Harper asked while Stiles just scoffed.

"I can't protect myself." He shook his head.

Stiles, clearly extremely annoyed now, pulled over onto the side of the road and turned off the engine. He turned around in his seat to face the older werewolf, anger written all over his face.

"What happens if Scott can't find your little magic bullet? Hmm?" Stiles hissed, mocking Derek with every word that fell from his lips. "Are you dying?"

Derek wheezed. "Not yet. I have a last resort."

Stiles laughed sarcastically, raising his voice. "What do you mean? What last resort?"

Harper's hand shot to her mouth as Derek pulled up his dark sleeves, revealing the wound in his arm. Stiles turned away from it, disgust written all over his face. Blood was all around the hole in his arm, making her squirm.

"Oh my God. What is that?" She looked away.

"Ugh, is that contagious? You know what, you should probably just get out." Stiles spoke in disgust, barely looking at Derek.

"Start the car. Now." Derek ordered, his breath shortening. Harper honestly kind of felt bad for the guy. After all, he was dying and Stiles was basically refusing to help.

"I don't think you should be barking orders with the way you look." Stiles finally turned to face him confidently.

"Stiles." She warned lowly.

"In fact," the hazel eyed boy ignored her. "I think if I wanted to, I could probably drag your little werewolf ass out into the middle of the road and leave you for dead."

Derek's arm suddenly snapped out, grabbing Harper by the throat. Her brown eyes widened, panic filling her body as her dainty hands moved to wrap around his arm. Stiles' eyes instantly widened.

Never mind, she took back what she said about feeling sorry for him.

"Start the car, or I'm going to rip your girlfriend's throat out with my teeth." He growled deeply and Harper felt his grip tighten on her, warning Stiles.

"Okay, okay, okay." He muttered, lifting his hands up in defence. "Just move your claws away from Harper's throat and I'll start the car."

Stiles tried to hide the panic that was filling him. He stared anxiously, his palms already slightly sweaty.

Derek listened, retracting his long werewolf claws and unwrapping his hand from around her throat. Harper's fingers went up to touch her neck, feeling the slight stinging sensation that was still there.

"Are you okay?" Stiles asked Harper worriedly.

"Yes!" She nodded. "Now start the car before the werewolf in the backseat of your car actually rips our throats out this time."

Stiles nodded quickly, starting the engine.

☹☻

About an hour later, they were still driving around in the dark with no response from Scott. Harper took Stiles' phone and texted him.

To Scott: Derek not looking good.

The brown haired werewolf didn't reply for another half an hour. She actually wanted to kill Scott as she leaned her head against the window and looked out at the lack of scenery they were driving past. Derek was muttering things under his breath from the back while Stiles just drove, a permanent frown on his face.

Harper decided to text him again.

To Scott: Call us.

With no reply over an hour later, Stiles pulled up on the side of the road, leaving an endless amount of voicemails for Scott. Suddenly, the phone began to ring, causing the two teenagers to jump up in their seats.

"How's Derek?" Stiles put Scott on speaker, sounding stressed.

"Barely alive." Harper retorted.

Scott sighed, "I'm working this out."

Stiles exclaimed through gritted teeth. "What am I supposed to do with him?"

"Take him somewhere! Anywhere!" Scott hissed. It sounded like he was pacing on the other side of the phone.

Stiles pinched the bridge of his nose. "And by the way, he's starting to smell." He sighed, causing Derek to shoot him a glare.

"Like what?"

"Like death." Harper informed him.

Scott didn't say anything for a moment, obviously trying to think of something. She really hoped he thought of something soon. Despite the fact that Derek is a complete asshole that threatened to kill her, she didn't want him to die. Not wanting to see somebody die is just part of being a normal, functioning human being.

"Okay. Take him to the animal clinic." Scott told them.

Harper frowned. "What about Deaton?"

Deaton was Scott's boss.

"He's gone by now." Scott explained. "There's a spare key in the box behind the dumpster."

Stiles sighed, handing the phone over to Derek. "You're not going to believe where he's telling me to take you."

Derek ignored him, taking Scott off speaker and pressing the phone to his ear. "Did you find it?" He asked, his voice deep. He sounded spaced out.

"If you don't find it then I'm dead, all right?"

"Then think about this." Derek paused for a second. "The Alpha called you out against your will. He's gonna do it again. Next time, you either kill with him or you get killed. So if you want to stay alive, then you need me. Find the bullet."

He hung up without giving Scott a chance to reply.

☹☻

Stiles pulled up in front of the animal clinic and Harper quickly jumped out of the jeep to go and get the key from behind the bins. While Stiles was helping Derek out, Harper got onto her knees and began to look, finding it under a brick.

The brunette unlocked the door and Stiles pulled the garage door upwards into the ceiling. His phone buzzed so he checked it, just as Derek fell onto some bags of dog food, clutching his arm. He looked awful.

His dark brown hair was sticking to his face with sweat, his eyes were red and his skin was even paler than Snow White.

"Does Nordic blue monkshood mean anything to you?" Stiles asked as he turned around.

Dogs were barking from their kennels so loudly that Harper was worried someone would come looking.

Derek gritted his teeth in pain. "It's a rare form of wolvesbane. He has to bring me the bullet."

"Why?" Harper asked.

The werewolf looked up, his green eyes boring into her brown ones. "Because I'm going to die without it." He replied.

For somebody dying he sounded oddly calm. Stiles and Harper both shared looks.

"Text Scott." She told him. "We need to help Derek into the vets room so he can sit down properly."

Stiles nodded, rushing to text Scott before we began to guide Derek towards the vets room. The hazel eyed boy pushed the doors open and Harper flicked the light switch, the florescent lights quickly flickering on. Derek began to tug his shirt off, causing Harper to gulp slightly.

Drooling over a dying guys abs is wrong, Harper.

Derek breathed heavily, stumbling over to the metal table in the middle of the room and placing his arm on it. She flinched at the sight of it. The bullet wound had dark red blood dripping from it, but the veins along his arm were a dark red and almost black colour, spreading up to his shoulder and down to his hand.

Stiles stuttered. "You know. That really doesn't look like anything some Echinacea and a good night's sleep couldn't take care of." He tried to lighten the mood with a small scoff.

Harper frowned at him. "Not the time, Stiles." She ran a hand through her long, brown hair anxiously.

"When the infection reaches my heart, it will kill me." His breaths got heavier with every single word that left his lips.

As Derek began to look through cupboards, Harper moved to Stiles' side, feeling her anxiety start to kick in. She felt like to have a panic attack right now would be somewhat selfish, since Derek is dying and all. He needs one hundred percent attention, so she needed to calm down. How does she do this?

She stays next to Stiles.

"Positivity just isn't in your vocabulary, is it?" He spoke sarcastically at the werewolf, watching as he slammed the cupboard door shut.

"If he doesn't get here with the bullet in time, last resort..." He searched through a drawer of pills.

"Which is?" Harper questioned worriedly, a frown on her face.

Derek finally found what he was looking for, holding up an electric saw. "One of you is going to cut off my arm."

Stiles' mouth fell open and he was finally stunned into silence while Harper began to blink rapidly, trying to comprehend what Derek had just instructed them. Cut off his arm?

Is this guy serious right now? The look on his face told her that he was telling the truth and she rubbed her sweaty palms together. Derek placed the saw on the table, sliding it over to Stiles who picked it up.

"Oh, my God." He turned away, clearly feeling sick. "What if you bleed to death?"

He dropped the saw as Derek wrapped some thick piece of blue ribbon around the top of his arm. "It'll heal if it works." He told them both, not looking up as he tightened the knot.

Stiles sighed anxiously, his face in complete disbelief. "Look," he gulped. "I don't know if I can do this."

"Why not?" Derek practically growled.

"Well, because of the cutting through the flesh, the sawing of the bone and especially the blood!" He hissed back.

It was Derek's turn for a look of disbelief to cross his face. "You faint at the sight of blood?"

"No. But I might at the sight of a chopped off arm!" He exclaimed.

Derek sighed, his eyes shifting towards the quiet girl. "Fine. You do it then."

Harper gulped. "Me?"

He glared. "You're the only other person in the room." He rolled his eyes. "Cut. Off. My. Arm."

"I can't." She shook her head quickly, trying to think of an excuse off of the top of her head. "My councillor says no more traumatic experiences. Sorry!"

Derek grabbed her arm, his claws coming out. "Oh, not again." Harper rolled her eyes, swallowing her fear as he glared at Stiles.

"Alright, fine. How about this. Either you cut off my arm, or I'm going to cut off her head." He spat.

Stiles shook his head. "Okay, you know what? I'm so not buying your threats anymore-"

The werewolf cut him off by sticking his nails into Harper's wrist tighter, drawing some blood and causing her to hiss out in pain.

"Oh my God, okay!" Stiles frantically spoke. "All right, bought, sold, totally. I'll do it."

Derek's grip on Harper's arm suddenly weakened and he began to breath even heavier, bending over slightly. "What are you doing?" She ignored the pain in her arm as he began to throw up.

But not your average, gross throw-up, it was dark black, disgusting throw-up. Harper shrieked and Stiles groaned loudly, wincing.

"Holy God!" He yelled. "What the hell is that?"

"It's my body." Derek grunted. "It's trying to heal itself."

She tried to hold back her own sick. "Well it's not doing a very good job, is it?" She took a couple of steps back.

Derek ignored Harper and looked at Stiles. "Now." He panted. "You gotta do it now."

Stiles hesitated, looking like he was going to pass out any second. "Look, honestly, I don't think I can." He swayed slightly.

"Just do it!" Derek suddenly burst, his voice causing Harper to jump backwards in shock.

"Oh, my God. Okay. Okay. Oh, my God." Stiles tried to pump himself up as he grabbed the saw. He placed it on Derek's arm. "Alright here we go!" He yelled, bracing himself.

Harper braced herself too, her hands in front of her face ready to cover them. The thing about her councillor telling her to try and stay out of stressful situations wasn't exactly a lie, and she didn't want to see Stiles cut somebodies arm off. She would have nightmares.

"Stiles?" A voice rung from the doorway. "Harper?"

"Scott?" Stiles called back.

The new werewolf came panting around the corner, his brown eyes widening at the scene spread out in front of him. Harper's heartbeat began to slow down to a normal pace. She was just glad that Scott was here.

Thank God for Scott McCall.

"What the hell are you doing?" He yelled.

Stiles just laughed nervously. "Oh, you just prevented me from a life time of nightmares."

Derek panted. "Did you get it?" His face was still pressed against the cool metal of the table.

Scott dug around inside his jeans pocket, quickly pulling out a golden bullet. Derek pulled himself up from the table, his face sweatier than before and his green eyes even duller as he stared at the small object in his hands.

"What are you going to do?" Harper asked quietly, standing next to Stiles again.

"I'm gonna..." he began, only to start wheezing before dropping the bullet. Scott reached out to grab it as it clattered onto the table and then the floor, rolling away. Derek's body hit the ground as he fainted.

Stiles and Harper rushed to help out the werewolf while Scott went looking for the bullet that was supposed to save Derek's life.

"Derek?" She tapped the side of his face, her eyes wide. "C'mon, Derek, you gotta wake up."

Stiles turned to look over at their best friend. "Scott, what the hell are we going to do?" He called anxiously.

"I don't know!" Scott was busy with trying to get the bullet out of the drain it had rolled into, so the short brunette turned back to the unconscious Derek on the floor.

"He's not waking up." She muttered to Stiles, placing her ear over his mouth to check for his breathing. Thankfully, he was still alive. "What do we do, Sti?"

Stiles didn't have time to reply before Scott jumped up, holding the bullet. "I got it! I got it!" He yelled proudly, rushing over to them.

"Please don't kill me for this!" He muttered to Derek and before she could comprehend his words properly, he had lifted his fist up and punched Derek as hard as he could in the face.

"Stiles!" Harper yelled as Derek quickly woke up. Stiles began to yell out, clutching his fist in pain.

She grabbed his hand gently, holding it as Derek snatched the bullet from Scott and ripped the top of it off with his teeth.

Some kind of powder fell onto the table and Derek grabbed a lighter, lighting it up. Harper took a step back as sparks grew quickly before an electrical blue mist took its place. As quick as he could, Derek began to gather the powder into his hands and hesitated before slapping it onto his wound.

She winced as Derek began to scream, his finger going directly into where the bullet had been. He grunted, falling to the ground and screaming, his back arching from the ground uncontrollably. Scott and Stiles watched in complete shock as one last scream ripped through Derek before the wound began to heal right before their eyes.

First the dark veins left and then the actual wound itself.

"That was awesome!" Stiles grinned in awe, causing Harper to shoot him a glare. He always chose to find the most strangest things the coolest.

"Are you okay?" Both Scott and Harper asked at the same time. Harper was worried while Scott was confused.

"Except for the agonising pain?" Derek sarcastically replied as he sat up, his voice sounding like he was never even hurt in the first place.

Stiles shot back, "I'm guessing the ability to use sarcasm is a good sign of health."

The werewolf just glared.

"Okay, we saved your life, which means you're going to leave us alone." Scott warned him. "You got that? And if you don't, I'm gonna go back to Allison's dad, and I'm gonna tell him everything."

"You're gonna trust them? You think they can help you?" He spat.

Scott scoffed. "Why not? They're a lot freaking nicer than you are!"

Derek just looked at him in amusement. "I can show you exactly how nice they are."

Scott raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

☹☻

Stiles and Harper had decided not to go with Derek and Scott on a late night adventure to Beacons Crossing Home. The brunette had had enough supernatural drama to last her a life time. She really hoped as soon as Derek is done teaching Scott his werewolf abilities and the Alpha is gone, that their lives will all get back to normal and they will never have to see the Sour Wolf again.

"Thanks for the help back there." Stiles spoke sarcastically, filling the comfortable silence that had been surrounding them in his jeep as he drove Harper back home.

Harper raised a dark eyebrow at him. "You weren't the one that he had his claws on the entire time. I'm pretty sure I stopped breathing at one point."

"Yeah, because you kept staring at his abs." Stiles muttered under his breath, rolling his hazel eyes at her.

A small laugh escaped Harper's lips. "I was not staring at his chest!"

Stiles rolled his eyes yet again. "Um, yeah, you kind of were." He grumbled.

She scoffed. "As if Derek is my type anyway."

Stiles' mood lightened a little by this news, his eyes shifting into curiosity as he stole a quick glance in her direction. He hesitated, clearing his throat. "Oh, yeah? Then what is your type?" He asked awkwardly.

"Hmm, well, for starters, I don't like guys that are afraid to show emotion. Kind of ruins everything. And I really like dorky, sarcastic, awkward guys with a really good sense of humour and really pretty eyes."

Stiles was almost sure, and prayed, that she was talking about him.

Stiles began to blush and Harper had to dig her painted nails into the palms of her hands to stop herself from freaking out. "Your, ur, he-"

Harper cut him off. "What's your type then, Sti?"

Stiles' tongue darted out to wet his lips slightly before he began to reply. "Well," he began. "I really like girls with dark eyes that smile loads and are always nice to others. I also really like it when they have a pretty laugh or when they speak about something they're passionate about, their whole face lights up."

A massive part of Harper hoped that he was describing her. Everything he said she did, but she was a little doubtful. Maybe she was just being delusional and way too hopeful.

But when Harper went to bed that night, she couldn't help thinking about her best friend liking her back, putting the biggest grin on her face.


	12. Chapter 12

Harper smiled at the person behind the counter, putting the DVD's into a plastic bag along with their receipt.

"Have a good day." She waved as the man left, the door almost slamming shut behind him.

Now it was just Harper in the store, along with the other worker. She forgot his name since he was quite a few years older than her and she didn't talk to him much. Her Wednesday night shifts were always so boring, but she needed this job.

Harper felt bad asking her grandma for money so she did what she had to do and got a job. Sure, it was minimum wage, but it was better than nothing. She'd only had the job for three months and she already wanted to quit.

"I'm gonna go check the lights." The other worker told her as he walked by, dragging a ladder along with him. "They've been flickering on and off all night."

"Okay, I'll be in the back. I need to go and get the new DVD's Jerry ordered." Harper nodded, moving into the back of the store.

The brunette hummed quietly to herself as she ripped open the plastic covering the stack of brand new DVD's, one by one scanning them and placing them into another box.

About ten minutes later she finished up and came back into the front of the store. The other worker wasn't on the ladder anymore but Harper didn't taken any notice as she moved behind the counter again, her chin resting on her hand.

"Can somebody help me find The Notebook?" She heard a familiar voice call after a few minutes, causing her to giggle. "Hello?"

Harper walked over from behind the counter, not surprised to see Jackson Whittemore stood there, looking around the aisles like some kind of lost puppy.

"Harper?" His eyes fell on the brunette and he sighed. "What are you doing here?"

Rolling her eyes, she replied sarcastically, "Hunting for elephants. What do you think, Jackson?"

Jackson just rolled his eyes back at me. "Well do you know if anyone is working here?" He snapped, looking around the empty store. "I need some assistance." He yelled the second part for everybody to hear.

Harper sighed loudly. "Do you not see my shirt?"

She pointed a finger at her workers badge pinned to the awful polo shirt she was forced to wear.

Jackson scanned it, a look of disgust crossing his face. "You work here?"

"We can't all be adopted into rich families, Jackass." Harper retorted, rolling her eyes. "And the Notebook is over here."

She began to lead the way, Jackson walking behind her until she tripped over something, landing on somebody lying on the carpet. Harper cried out when she realised it was the body of the other worker, except his throat had been slashed and she was in a puddle of his blood.

Shrieking, Harper began to stumble backwards, Jackson quickly grabbing her arms to attempt to pull her back. He stumbled too, knocking over the ladder in the process. It hit the lights, cutting all electricity from the store and leaving them in complete darkness.

Harper whimpered from beside Jackson, completely overwhelmed.

Jackson breathed heavily. "We need to get out of here." He spoke quickly, guiding her to her feet. They both turned around, ready to run out of the store when a low growl came from the entrance.

Harper's heart stopped as she looked into the glowing red eyes of the Alpha. It was on all fours, growing at them menacingly, causing her brain to go fuzzy.

Don't pass out. Don't pass out. Don't pass out.

It was like her feet were glued to the ground, but Jackson grabbed her, pulling her into his chest and ducking away behind a shelf of DVDs.

They both breathed heavily, Harper's hand over her mouth to stop herself from crying. God how she wished she could just stop all of her emotions right now so she could actually focus.

Jackson slowly moved his head around the corner to see if the Alpha was still there, jumping back when the dark figure rushed around a corner.

Harper could feel the Lacrosse captain's heartbeat on her back, thumping rapidly as his hands visibly shook. The brunette wasn't much better, in fact, she was probably worse. Jackson thought that it was just a mountain lion, but Harper knew. She knew that that thing was the Alpha that had bitten Scott and killed the video store guy.

DVDs suddenly began to fall from around them, clattering to the ground. One hit Harper's head and she flinched, trying not to yelp from the surprise. Jackson exhaled loudly, attempting to contain himself.

And then, suddenly, the sound of shelves banging into each other came to their attention, causing her brown eyes to snap open wide. The Alpha had knocked over a shelf and now all of them were falling over each other, like dominos.

Harper rushed out, grabbing Jackson's arm, but he moved too slow. The shelves fell on top of him, squashing his legs beneath them. He groaned loudly, his eyes squeezing together in pain before he looked at her.

"Go!" He warned her. "Go, Harper!"

No matter how much of an asshole Jackson was, Harper was not leaving him to die.

"No!" She shook her head quickly, grabbing the upper half of his body and trying to pull him out. No matter how much she tried, there was no use.

Harper suddenly stopped when she heard something behind her and then felt a warm breath on the back of her neck, causing her blood to run cold. Jackson stopped struggling too, his eyes wide. The Alpha's long claws gently scraped across the back of Harper's neck, sniffing her as if it was a dog and she was his toy.

Her eyes squeezed together, waiting for it to slit her throat. But it never came, instead it's deep voice whispered her name in her ear, before a few Latin words, and then everything went black.

☹☻

When Harper's eyes flickered open, she was immediately overwhelmed by everything going on around her. A man was asking her questions from above her, red and blue lights flashed her vision and the sound of Jackson arguing with somebody flooded her ears.

"-you hear me?" The paramedics voice suddenly came into focus. Harper blinked before nodding slightly. "Good. You fainted from shock. Is your head okay? You didn't hit it."

She nodded, her mouth feeling dry. "Yeah, I'm fine." She croaked, shaking slightly as she sat up. She looked out of the ambulance, frowning when she saw the person Jackson was arguing with was Sheriff Stilinski.

Lydia sat in the ambulance beside him, a frown on her face as she stared at nothing, looking very emotionally traumatised.

"Oh whoa, is that a dead body?" A very familiar voice cried almost excitedly.

Harper's eyes snapped over to where some paramedics were pulling out a gurney, an arm hanging off the side of it.

"He-he-" She began to stutter, suddenly becoming aware of all of the blood over her jeans and polo shirt. "Wh-" Harper couldn't form any proper words, her body shaking so much that she couldn't control it.

The paramedic looked at her worriedly. "Okay, breathe in and out. Hold for four seconds, let out for four seconds. You're having a panic attack. Do you normally suffer from these?"

Harper chocked, "I need Stiles." Tears began to flow now and she hated herself for it. It made her feel even more pathetic that she was crying when she wasn't even hurt.

"Who's Stiles? Is he in the contacts on your phone?" He asked calmly as she breathed in and out.

Harper's shaky, heavy breathing wouldn't stop, rattling her entire body as she squeezed her eyes shot. "Stilinski." She managed again, the panic in her body swelling, and swelling, and swelling, starting to completely take over.

"Harper?" Harper heard Stiles' voice again, causing her brown eyes to snap open.

His worried figure rushed over to her, his hands moving to hold her shoulders, his eyes scanning Harper's body, almost bulging out at the blood soaking her jeans. Stiles made direct eye contact with her, automatically thinking the worst.

"It's okay, Harps." He told her as calmly as he could, but he was panicking, too. "It's okay. Breathe with me, yeah?"

She nodded, more tears squeezing out as she copied what the Stilinski boy was doing, breathing in and out in time with him. His hazel eyes never left hers, his hands trembling slightly as he moved to push some of her hair out of her face.

"You're doing amazing, Harper." He mumbled, grabbing her dainty hand and unclenching it so that he could intertwine their fingers. "You're okay. I'm here, and I'm not going to leave you. You got that?"

"Y-yes," Harper breathed, sniffling as the last of her tears came out, gulping down the anxiety that she was stopping from attacking again. "Thank you, Sti."

Stiles chuckled, shaking his head. "I will always be there for you when you, Harper. When you're happy, when you're sad, when you're angry, anxious, depressed, content. I'm here for you."

Harper squeezed his hand tighter. "Please don't let go yet."

He smiled slightly. "I wasn't going to." His voice came out just above a whisper, her eyes shifting from where they were looking at their hands to his eyes. He was watching her the whole time, a small blush on his face when she smiled back at him.

Harper's face suddenly fell when she remembered. "Stiles..." She whispered. "It was the Alpha."

His eyes widened, his face also falling. "Are- are you sure? How do you know?" He stressed.

"I saw it. It's eyes were bright red and it ran on all fours. It wasn't anything like Scott or Derek. It-it said my name." Harper closed her eyes towards the end, hating how much it felt like she was reliving it when she spoke.

Stiles let out an inhuman noise causing her to open her eyes. "It what?!" He cried. "It said your name? Did it hurt you?"

Harper shook her head. "I mean, not really." She ran her spare hand through her hair. "I was helping Jackson and it said my name and then it whispered these words in my ear and I went unconscious. The paramedics said that I fainted from shock, but Stiles..."

Stiles frowned. "You think it has something to do with whatever he said to you." He finished her sentence for her.

The brunette nodded. "It sounded like some kind of spell, like something out of a movie."

"A spell?"

"Well, it obviously wasn't a spell, but it was something." She spoke, frustrated. "I'm more concerned about how that thing knew my name, to be honest."

Stiles nodded, thinking things through. "Okay." He paused. "We need to tell Scott."

Harper agreed. "Yeah. But Stiles?"

"Mhm?" He looked up from where he had gotten his phone out, texting Scott all of the information that she had provided him with. "What is it?" He spoke softly.

Harper couldn't help but blush a little. "Do you... do you think you could stay at my house over night?" She fiddled with his hand, a nervous habit of hers. "I'm just really scared. And you, um, you make me feel safe."

Stiles' whole face lit up. "I- I make you feel safe?" He repeated in disbelief, his eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "I'm useless."

Her heart almost shattered at those words. If there was one thing that she hated more than bad people, it was when Stiles Stilinski thought bad of himself. Stiles was so incredibly amazing and he deserved the world, she just wished he could see himself through her eyes for five minutes.

Harper bit her lip. "Please don't say that." She whispered, squeezing his hand again. "I'm feeling so emotional tonight that if you say another thing to put yourself down I will probably burst into tears."

"But-"

"No." She shook her head, her throat feeling tight. "You, Stiles Stilinski, are one of my favourite people alive. You're so amazing and smart and kind and funny and I wish you would accept it. You make me feel safe because out of all the seven billion people on this earth, I trust you the most."

"Me?"

Harper chuckled, tears in her eyes. "Yes, you, you dork." She used the back of her hand to wipe her eyes before the tears could fall.

He smiled back at the English girl, grabbing her other hand so that he was now holding both of them. "I trust you the most, too." He rubbed soothing patterns with the pads of his thumbs until somebody cleared their throat from behind him.

The two teenagers both looked around to see Noah stood there. "Harper, are you okay?" He asked her worriedly.

Harper nodded. "I'm fine now, thank you."

He smiled. "Good." Before sighing. "Did you walk here?" When she nodded he gave a slight smile. "Let me drop you home then, I'm sure your grandma wants to know why you're so worried."

"Thank you so much, Noah."

"Dad?" Stiles spoke up. "Can I stay over Harper's tonight? She's just feeling really anxious, and I am her best friend, after all."

They both looked up at him, giving their best puppy dog eyes. Noah sighed in defeat, nodding. "Let's go home on the way and get your clothes and stuff for tomorrow, though."

After a short ride to the Stilinski household, Stiles and Harper then took his jeep over to her house. As soon as Harper walked through the door a pair of arms were around her and her grandma had pulled Harper into her chest as she cried.

"Grandma!" Harper exclaimed worriedly. "Why are you crying?"

She shook her head as she pulled away, her eyes red and tired. "Meizhun called me! She said there was an accident down at the video store... and look at you! You're covered in blood." She sobbed.

Rose referred to the old woman that worked across the road at the charity shop. She was Rose's only friend in America, since all of her other friends were either dead or back in England.

Harper hushed her. "I'm okay, grandma. It's not my blood, I tripped over the body. But I'm perfectly okay, I swear." She squeezed Rose tight in another hug. "Just a little shaken up, that's all."

"I can't lose you, Harper. You're all-"

"I know." Harper cut her off, not wanting to have the conversation in front of Stiles. "Which is why I try to keep my reckless choices to a minimum."

She chuckled, sniffling. "As long as you're okay..."

Harper nodded, "I am. But is it okay if Stiles sleeps over?"

Rose smiled. "Of course. Stiles and Scott are always welcome."

"Great." Harper kissed her cheek quickly. "I'm going to go to bed right now, since I'm really tired."

Grandma nodded again. "You don't have to go to school tomorrow if you don't feel up for it. You have full permission from me."

"Thanks." Harper gave Rose's hand a squeeze before she took off up the stairs, Stiles following right behind. As soon as she entered her bedroom, she flopped onto the bed. Stiles closed the door.

"You okay?"

"Mmm-hmm." She mumbled. "You can get ready for bed first, since I take longer."

Stiles sent a smile her way before heading to the bathroom. He came back wearing his pyjama bottoms and a white shirt. "You don't mind if I take my shirt off while I sleep, do you?" He asked worriedly.

Harper shook her head. "Go ahead. I'm gonna go and get dressed now... and have a shower."

The brunette's stomach filled with butterflies as she grabbed her pyjamas and went to the bathroom to get ready. After taking a long shower to get all of the blood off of her, she got into her tank top and black pyjama bottoms, brushed her teeth and took off all of her makeup.

Harper had slept in the same bed as Stiles a hundred times before, but now she liked him like a crush, and he was going to be shirtless. Her palms felt slightly sweaty as she re-entered the room, smiling when she saw the Stilinski boy underneath the covers, only his bare shoulders and his face showing.

Turning off the light, Harper climbed in beside him after plugging her phone on charge. She snuggled into the covers, facing towards her best friend. Stiles didn't say anything as she tossed and turned for the next hour, unable to fall asleep.

"Stop moving." He mumbled sleepily about an hour later.

Harper froze. "Sorry," she whispered.

Stiles sighed, moving to wrap his arms around her petite frame and pulling her into his naked chest. Blushing, Harper got comfortable, leaning against his warm body as his arms snaked around her body.

"Better?" He whispered.

"Better." She confirmed.

Harper had to hold back from saying, "you're not you when you're hungry", and ruining their moment.

She felt him smile. "Good. Sweet dreams, Harps."

"Night, Sti."


	13. Chapter 13

The sound of something falling caused Harper's eyes to snap open the next morning, her hands grabbing the duvet around her as she looked for the cause. Stiles Stilinski was on the floor in the middle of her bedroom, one of his shoes half off his foot as he groaned out in pain.

"What are you doing?" Harper mumbled, blinking the sleep away.

The Stilinski boy's head quickly looked in her direction, worried. "Harper! I didn't mean to wake you. You go back to sleep, okay? I'll be back after school."

"What's the time?"

"Eight." Stiles replied, causing her to panic. "I'm leaving in five."

"Why didn't you wake me up, you idiot?" Harper threw the covers off of her body and rushed towards the wardrobe.

Stiles scoffed. "You were attacked by the Alpha last night and you want to go to school today?" He tutted. "No, no, no. You are staying in bed."

"I have an exam in German." She snapped at him.

His face fell a little and Harper softened. "Oh, God. Stiles, I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay." He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "I get it, honestly. If I had a dead guys blood on me, I wouldn't be my normal, sunshine self either.

Harper couldn't bring herself to smile, instead she shot him a grateful look, which he just nodded to.

"I'll stay off today." She whispered.

Stiles nodded. "Good. Rest. Sleep. Think- but not too much, okay?"

Harper chuckled, shaking her head at him as he quickly rushed to finish tying his laces and grabbed his school bag. He gave her a short hug and goodbye, saying something about meeting her after school at his house before the parent/teacher conference.

☹☻

After eating a breakfast bar, Harper stayed on the couch downstairs in the living room and began to watch movies, anything to take her mind off of what happened last night. She had stuck to some old Disney films, no horrors for her for a while.

When lunch time rolled around, Harper decided to text Stiles.

To Stiles: hey. how are lydia and jackson ??

Stiles: lydia isn't at school. and why do you care about jackass?

To Stiles: he did kinda save my life yesterday

Stiles: well, he's fine. just as bitchy as normal

To Stiles: great. I'm gonna go over to Lydia's and see how she is so I will talk to you soon

Stiles: okay. Please be careful.

To Stiles: I always am.

Harper switched off the TV and put her phone into her pocket. Just as she got up, a hand reached out and pushed her body against the wall behind her, knocking the breath out of her and causing her to freak out. Harper's eyes landed on an angry Derek Hale who stood there, glaring at her.

"What the bloody hell are you doing in my house?" Harper yelled. "I could call Stiles right now and have his dad come and take your werewolf arse to jail."

Derek replied coldly. "And I would snap your neck before you could even touch your phone. What did you see yesterday? At the video store?"

"The Alpha." She spat, taking him by surprise.

Derek wasn't expecting a proper answer from her. He let go of her shoulders.

Harper's tone softened into a scared one. "It said my name."

Derek looked like he didn't know how to react, and that scared her. Supposedly, Derek was the most knowledgeable on werewolves in all of Beacon Hills, and he didn't know what to say? He blinked, frowning at her, as if he was waiting for her to tell him that she was joking.

When Harper didn't, he sighed.

"That means the Alpha knows who you are." He hesitated before adding. "And he wants something from you."

Harper's eyebrows raised quickly. "Like what?!"

Derek frowned. "Probably your supernatural ability." When he saw the confused look on her face he chuckled dryly. "Oh, don't tell me you didn't know?"

"Know what?" She asked, scared.

She wasn't supernatural! She can't do anything!

"You've got a smell. I could tell when we met in the woods that you were different, Harper." He explained, his usual monotone voice echoing the room.

"I don't smell!" She exclaimed, hurt. "I wear expensive perfume, thank you very much!"

Derek rolled his eyes. "Not like that." He almost sounded amused. "As in you don't smell completely human. So, are you playing dumb? Or do you really not know what you are?"

Harper shook her head quickly. "I'm not even supernatural! I have just as much supernatural ability as a potato." She was starting to panic, but he kept a straight face, clearly not caring.

Derek thought for a second. "Well, at least now we know his intention."

"Yeah, well, would you like to share? Because we don't know anything." She ran a hand through her hair, making it even more messy than it was before.

His face hardened. "He wants you in his pack. But if you haven't been experiencing any supernatural abilities, then he probably wants to bite you for it. He needs to speed up how quickly you develop your powers. Which could be dangerous, since depending on what you are, your powers could be hard to control."

Harper was so overwhelmed that she didn't know what to say. Her eyes casted to the ground and burned with angry tears, her nails digging into the palms of her hands as her heart beat went out of control.

Don't panic. Don't panic. Don't panic.

When she looked up, Derek wasn't there anymore. He must have saw that she was freaking out and left. What a douche. What a big freaking douche bag.

Harper swallowed the last of her fear, standing up straight and looking at herself in the mirror. No tears had fallen and her nails hadn't broken the skin enough for blood. Her heart beat slowly went back down to normal. She was fine. She was going to be okay.

The brunette decided that she did need to go and see Lydia now. Maybe she could help Harper take her mind off of all of this supernatural crap for a couple of hours.

☹☻

Mrs Martin opened the front door, a smile crossing her face when she saw Harper stood there in her joggers, her brown hair up in a messy bun.

"Harper! Hi! Come in, come in. I'm assuming you're here to see Lydia." She ushered the short girl into the Martin household.

Nodding, Harper forced a smile back. "Yep. I was there last night too... figured I could bond with someone who understands while I'm not at school."

This was half true. Of course she wanted to know if one of her best friends was okay and find out why she was ignoring all of her text messages and phone calls, but she also needed to know what she saw last night while she was knocked out. Did she see the Alpha? What did she think it was?

"Oh, well there probably won't be much bonding today." Mrs Martin sighed as she lead Harper up the stairs and towards Lydia's bedroom, even though she had been there a thousand times before. "She's had some medication to ease her nerves so she might be a little bit out of it."

Before Harper could say anything, she opened the door for her. "Honey, Harper's here to see you."

Lydia didn't reply, face planting the bed from where she was laying on her stomach in her pyjamas, inspecting her nails. She groaned. If she wasn't so loopy Harper would have probably been offended.

"I'll be downstairs." Mrs Martin excused herself, gently shutting the door behind her as she left.

Lydia lifted her face up from the bed and looked Harper up and down. "What are you doing here? And why do you look like such a mess?" She asked calmly.

The brunette cringed as she looked down at her oversized shirt and grey jogging bottoms. "I'm here to see if you're okay, Lyds." She decided to just ignore Lydia's last comment.

"Why?" The strawberry blonde sighed, smacking her lips together.

"Stiles told me you weren't at school today either. I was worried about you." She sat down on the edge of Lydia's bed, grabbing her hand and squeezing it slightly.

She looked at Harper as if she was stupid. "What the hell is a Stiles?" She rolled her eyes before sighing. "Well, I feel fantastic." She grinned at her last words, giggling slightly.

She is so out of it.

Harper's eyes looked around the room as she tried to think of something to say, anything to make this conversation less one-sided. She noticed an orange tub of pills on Lydia's bedside table and picked it up. Harper read the label and snickered.

"Hey, I bet you can't say 'I saw Suzy sittin' in a shoeshine shop' ten times fast." She challenged.

Lydia smirked at her, clearly thinking she was going to win. "I saw Shuzy-" she began confidentally. "Uh... I shaw..."

Harper chuckled, placing the pills back down on her bedside table. Harper's face fell when she saw the distraught look on Lydia's face as she leaned back down on her bed, her face full of realisation.

"I saw..." she muttered.

Harper froze. "What did you see? Lydia?"

She whispered, "something."

"Something... like a mountain lion?"

"A mountain lion." She repeated, though she didn't sound sure at all.

Harper frowned. "Are you sure you saw a mountain lion, or are you just saying that because that's what the police told you?" She asked.

"A mountain lion."

Harper grabbed the stuffed giraffe that was next to the pills. "What's this?"

She looked up at it. "A moutain lion." She confirmed.

"Okay." She muttered, placing the giraffe back to its original place. "You're so out of it."

Her head fell onto Harper's knee and Harper sighed, stroking her hair. After about ten minutes, she stood up and moved to stand in the doorway.

"I'm gonna go, Lyds. My grandma will be home from work soon." She smiled comfortingly at the strawberry blonde.

Lydia looked like she was about to reply before her eyes fluttered closed and she fell unconscious on the bed. Harper knew she was just asleep, but her doubt got the best of her and she had to check her pulse. Who knows? She could have taken a few too many of those pills.

That, and she had issues with everyone she loved dying, but y'know.

Just as Harper got up to leave, Lydia's phone began to buzz on her bedside table. She picked it up to check it, her brown eyes widening when a video began to play on the screen. It was a text sent from someone. But that wasn't the crazy part, obviously.

The crazy part was when the Alpha appeared on the screen, it's red eyes glowing directly at the camera. Harper's mouth went dry and she felt her eyes water as she shakily sent the text message to herself before deleting the video from Lydia's phone.

The brunette placed it back down on the side and was out of there quicker than lightening.

☹☻

Stiles: where are you

Stiles: hello?

Stiles: Meet me at my house asap please

Stiles: at least text me back so I know you're alive

Harper ran up the stairs of the Stilinski household, shooting a quick smile to Noah who knew better than to ask why she was there and why she was dressed like a homeless person. She burst through the bedroom door without knocking, finding Stiles pacing around anxiously in the middle of his bedroom. Relief dawned on his face when his eyes landed on her.

"Oh, thank God." He sighed, taking two strides forwards and wrapping her in a quick hug. He pulled her away at arms distance. "Where were you?"

"Lydia's house, remember?" Harper rolled her eyes slightly and Stiles suddenly became embarrassed. "But I have something to tell you. Something big."

His eyes widened. "How big?"

"Bigger than..." Harper tried to think of some catchy simile, but only dirty things came to her head. She snorted and Stiles snorted back, the two of them thinking the same thing.

Harper shook her head. "No, seriously. I went to Lydia's and she got a text message." She pulled out her phone and shoved it in his face. "Look!"

Stiles gently took the phone from her hands and began to watch the video. "I don't see any-" He began but his eyes widened when she heard the crash come from the speakers. "Wow! That's the Alpha?"

Harper nodded quickly. "Yeah. We need to tell Scott as soon as possible."

He frowned. "Scott wasn't at school today. Or Allison."

She sighed. "Probably has something to do with the fact that it's her birthday today... holy macaroni, I didn't even send her a happy birthday text! I'm the worst friend ever, she's going to hate me so-"

Stiles grabbed a hold of her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "Quit rambling. Nobody could ever hate you, Harper. You're the most un-hate-able person I know."

Harper found herself grinning at him. "Thanks." She paused. "Now call Scott!"

Nodding quickly, Stiles obeyed, grabbing his phone from his pocket and calling their best friend. As normal, it went straight to his voicemail. Ever since Scott found Allison they hadn't been hanging out with him as much as usual. But neither didn't really mind.

Scott has his first girlfriend, who he loves, and Harper and Stiles got to spend more alone time with each other. It was a win-win situation, to be honest.

As soon as the hazel eyed boy had done ranting down the phone to Scott's voicemail, there was a knock at the door. The two of them whirled around to face Noah Stilinski who stood in the door with a slight smile on his face.

He wore a dark shirt, dark trousers and a dark plaid shirt. It was weird seeing him out of uniform. It reminded Harper of when Stiles, Scott and Harper were young and all of their parents would hang out and talk while they played in the sand pit or played strange, complicated games.

"Please tell me I'm going to hear good news at this parent/teacher thing tonight." He sighed.

Stiles quickly replied. "It depends how you define 'good news'."

"I define it as you getting straight A's with no behavioural issues." His dad shot back just as fast.

Normally, friends would hate being stuck in this kind of situation- where your friend bickers with their parents. However, when Harper was around the Stilinski's, she couldn't help but love it. Noah and Stiles are both so sarcastic, witty, and quick thinking. Their conversations were better than the drama on the soap operas her grandma watched every evening.

Stiles cringed. "You might wanna rethink that definition."

"Enough said." Noah huffed before turning to Harper. "I bet your par-grandma will be hearing good news tonight, won't she?"

All three of them noticed the slip up and Harper saw Stiles wince from beside her and Noah look slightly panicked. Harper just smiled back, pretending not to notice to prevent the awkwardness.

"Hopefully." She chuckled.

He sent her a smile and she smiled back as he left.

☹☻

Stiles had been huffing and sighing for the past hour, checking his phone every couple of minutes as Harper lay down on his bed, watching the movie that he had set up for them to watch on his laptop. It was only some Netflix movie, but Harper couldn't bring herself to focus properly.

Not after last night, or what she had seen on Lydia's phone. Not after what Derek had told her. Never in Harper's life had she shown any supernatural powers, so it overwhelmed her with the news that he had delivered.

It suddenly dawned on Harper that she hadn't told Stiles yet and she reached forwards, clicking the space bar to pause the movie. Stiles didn't even notice from where he was sitting beside her, his eyebrows furrowed as he typed on his phone, probably still trying to get a hold of Scott.

Harper cleared her throat, causing him to look up. "Stiles..." She sighed. "I need to tell you something. Please don't freak out."

Stiles raised his eyebrows, setting his phone down as he adjusted to face her in a more comfortable position.

"What is it?" He frowned.

Pausing, she tried to think of the best way to word things. "Before I went to Lydia's, Derek was at my house."

Stiles looked worried. "Did you do something with him?"

Harper almost chocked on her own spit. "No! Oh, God no." She shook her head quickly. "But he told me something. Well, he wanted to know what I had seen last night and I told him about the Alpha saying my name and..."

She trailed off, not knowing how to say it.

"And?" Stiles pressed. "What did he tell you? That the Alpha wants to kill you? What is it?"

"Not exactly." She bit her lip.

"Not exactly?!" The Stilinski boy repeated, eyes wide and frantic.

"He said..." Harper tried to speak as calmly as she could so that she didn't get emotional. "He said that the Alpha wants me in it its pack."

Stiles frowned, confused. "But you're not supernatural."

"I know." Harper replied. "But Derek said that I didn't smell human, whatever that means. And he said that the Alpha might want to bite me to speed the process of my powers developing."

She fiddled with Stiles' blue bed covers in an attempt to stop her hands from shaking. Harper got anxiously very quickly and easily- just one of the many side effects from her PTSD.

"What powers?"

"I don't know!" Her voice raised a little, just as freaked out as him. "I don't know if Derek's just being an asshole and trying to scare me, but something tells me that he's telling the truth. And I'm scared, Stiles."

Stiles didn't say anything for a second. "Did..." He hesitated. "Do you know if your parents ever acted... strange? Like, supernaturally strange?"

Harper thought back to her parents. Back to the last time she saw them, when they kissed her head and told her to have a good day at school. But she never saw them again. Her parents were normal, she was pretty sure.

"Supernaturally? I don't think so." Harper's throat tightened as she thought about it. "But my dad worked more at that mental hospital. Like, he rarely came home. Mum said she was worried about him, I heard her talking to my grandparents about it. And then... just like that, they were gone."

"You think they knew?" Again, he hesitated to ask.

Harper bit her lip. "I don't know. I don't like to wonder why, all I know is that the guy that shot my parents killed himself afterwards. The police said that he was mentally unstable, so I figured there was no real reason. But I dwelled on it, thought of a hundred and one different scenarios, it was just a thought. Just a theory, nothing more."

It was like Stiles was treading on egg shells as he spoke. "But what would this have to do with the supernatural?"

Harper shrugged. "I don't know. That was just the only unusual thing about them. That before they died they acted really distant. Or maybe it was all in my head. Forget I said anything. If they knew they were going to die they would have said a proper goodbye."

Stiles stared at her sadly. "You didn't get to say goodbye?"

Harper shook her head, trying to smile slightly to stop herself from crying over it. "Yeah. Well, I rushed out the door that day. You, Scott and I were doing our project in art and we were meeting early. Remember?"

"I remember that day." He laced his fingers with hers. "Whether they hid something or not, they loved you, Harper."

"I know." She mumbled softly, closing my eyes as she leaned against his body. "I miss them a lot. I love my grandma so much, but I just wish my parents were back."

"I can't imagine what it feels like to lose both." Stiles sighed, tracing patterns on her arm as he held me next to him. "It was bad enough when my mum died."

She hummed. "I'm glad you still got your dad." She squeezed his hand lightly. "He loves you a lot, Stiles, and so did your mum."

Stiles didn't reply, his arm that was wrapped around her just tightening a little, like a thank you. "I wish you didn't have to go through that stuff, Harps." He mumbled.

"It made me stronger."

"It gave you anxiety. You lost your parents."

"Thanks for reminding me." She muttered sarcastically and if her eyes were open she would have rolled them.

"Sorry." He replied quietly. "I just wish you had had a happy life, your whole life."

Harper leaned against him more, feeling her eyelids grow heavier. "Well I'm happy now. Here, with you."

Stiles tensed a little. "I'm happy, too." He whispered.

"Good." She yawned before she couldn't hear anything around her anymore, and she was finally asleep in his arms.


	14. Chapter 14

"Hey, Scott." Harper smiled as she closed her locker door, turning to face the dark haired boy who was muttering something to himself as he walked down the hallway. "Why didn't you answer your phone last night? Stiles and I had to tell you something."

Scott stopped in front of the brunette and sighed. "He told me this morning about the text message. Oh, and because Derek broke my phone."

Harper's eyes widened, her smile slowly dropping from her face. "What? Why would he do that?" She asked.

He rolled his eyes. "He called it training. He said I need to stay away from Allison because she's a distraction."

Frowning, Harper replied. "That's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard! She's so good for you, Scott."

"No, he's right." He replied softly as they began to walk down the hall, clutching her school books to her chest. "She is a distraction. I can't concentrate when I'm thinking of her or when I'm around her. And trust me, she's all that's on my mind."

Despite the situation, Harper awed. "Scott! That's the cutest thing I've ever heard. Allison is so lucky to have a guy that cares about her like you do. I need to get a boyfriend now."

"You have Stiles."

"Huh?" Stiles?

"Nothing. Forget it." He replied quickly as they began to walk up the stairs leading to the English block.

The McCall boy turned around, grabbing Harper's arm and tugging her backwards so they were walking in the opposite direction. Frowning, Harper looked over her shoulder, spotting Allison there talking to some girls that were in her maths class.

"Scott, we have English." Harper hissed.

Scott didn't reply. "Stay away from Jackson." He muttered under his breath as Jackson walked out of a classroom, pulling her in yet another direction.

Lydia turned around from where she was half way down the hall at her locker. "Hey, Scott! Harper!" She chirped.

Scott let go of Harper's arm. "Oh come on!" He grumbled, walking away.

☹☻

Harper took a shortcut to English, obviously making it to class before Scott did. She spotted Stiles sat near the back of the class and smiled at him, walking over. Stiles smiled back as Harper put her backpack underneath the desk next to him and sat down.

"Hey, how's your dad?" She asked him sweetly.

On the night of the teachers/parents conference, an actual mountain lion had entered the car park. Apparently the sheriff had tried to shoot at it but got knocked over by a car in the process. Nothing was broken but Stiles is mad at Scott for not looking out for his dad and now Harper's stuck in the middle of it, just like with every arguement that they have.

The Stilinski boy sighed. "He'll be fine. Thanks for asking."

Harper didn't reply as she took her books out, looking up when she saw Scott enter the room. The two boys made eye contact and Stiles rolled his hazel eyes, looking back down at the paper on his desk.

Scott walked over, sitting at the desk behind Stiles and sighing. He leaned forwards and whispered, "Still not talking to me?"

When Stiles ignored him, Scott huffed. "Can you at least tell me if your dad's okay? I mean, it's just a bruise, right? Some soft tissue damage? Nothing that big?"

Seeing how distressed Scott was, Harper decided to speak up. "Stiles? He said he's sorry."

Stiles glared at her as if she was picking sides. Harper slumped down into her seat and sighed. This is why she decided not to get in between fights between the two. It always somehow ends with two of them against her.

"You know I feel bad about it, right?" Scott sighed again when Stiles didn't reply. "Okay. What if I told you that I'm trying to figure this whole thing out, and... that I went to Derek for help."

Stiles huffed, "if I was talking to you, I'd say that you're an idiot for trusting him. But obviously I'm not talking to you."

Stiles broke about ten seconds later, quickly turning around in his seat. "What did he say?" He asked urgently, causing Harper to smile a little.

Scott grinned too.

☹☻

"He wants you to tap into your animal side and get angry?" Stiles summarised in complete disbelief as they walked out of the classroom.

Scott nodded. "Yeah."

"Isn't that really stupid, though? Like, every time you get angry you try to kill someone. Mainly Stiles and I." Harper rolled her eyes.

"I know." The werewolf huffed. "That's what he means when he says he doesn't know if he can teach me. I have to be able to control it."

"Well, how is he going to teach you to do that?" Stiles asked.

Scott shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think he knows, either."

"When are you seeing him next?" The petite girl asked.

"Just told me not to talk about it. Just act normal and get through the day."

Stiles rolled his eyes and stopped, hitting Scott on the chest. "When?" He deadpanned, annoyed. 

"He's picking me up at the animal clinic after work."

"After work." Stiles repeated. "Right, that gives me till the end of the school day then."

"To do what?" She asked curiously, raising an eyebrow. Harper could tell that Scott was curious from beside her, too.

"To teach you myself." The Stilinski boy walked off to his next class.

☹☻

The next period Harper had ICT with Allison. She was telling her about how she's researching her family history and asked Harper to sit with her at lunch. Of course, Harper agreed, thinking maybe she could escape some of the werewolf drama while she was with the Argent.

Wrong.

At lunch, she had sat Lydia and Harper down to talk about some beast that her family had called. Unlike her, Harper knew that her family were hunters, so technically she was just learning about werewolves again. Harper really wanted to leave and sit with her two other best friends, except she knew they were probably just talking about Derek Hale.

When did her life become so stressful? Well, at least she's not the supernatural one.

Or is she?

Ugh.

Lydia clearly was as done as Harper was as she waved her fork in the air. "The what of who?" She rolled her eyes.

"The beast of Gevaudan. Listen." The darker brunette insisted as she began to read from the old leather book in her hands. "'A quadruped wolf-like monster, prowling the Auvergne and South Dordogne areas of France during the year 1764 to 1767. La bete killed over one hundred people, becoming so infamous that the King Louis the fifteenth sent one of his best hunters to try and kill it."

Allison looked up at them for her friends reactions.

"Boring." Lydia went back to eating her salad.

Harper sighed and forced a smile at Allison. "Continue."

"Please don't." Lydia groaned, glaring at the shortest girl with her green eyes.

Allison ignored the strawberry blonde. "'Even the church eventually declared the beast a messenger of Satan.'"

"Hmm. Still boring."

"'Cryptozoologists believe it may have been a subspecies of hoofed predator, possibly a mesonychid."

"Slipping-into-a-coma bored." Lydia huffed.

"'While others believe it was a powerful sorcerer who could shape-shift into a man-eating monster.'" Allison finally finished.

"What has this got to do with your family?" Harper awkwardly took a bite of her apple, wanting to see what she really knew about her families history.

Harper was almost one hundred percent sure that she wasn't like her parents or her aunt, but you can never be too sure. She could be undercover and dating Scott for information. One minute they could be on the date and the next, Scott McCall is a rug in the Argent's living room.

"This." Allison began to read again. "'It is believed that La Bete was finally trapped and killed by a renown hunter who claimed his wife and four children were the first to fall prey to the creature.'." She looked up and grinned. "His name was Argent."

Lydia scoffed. "Your ancestors killed a big wolf. So what?"

If only you knew, Lydia.

"Not just a big wolf." Allison flipped some pages in her book. "Take a look at this picture. What does it look like to you guys?"

She flipped the book around to show them the picture. Harper's mouth went dry at the sight and she felt her hands go clammy as her heart began to race. It was a drawing, almost identical to the Alpha that has been terrorising Beacon Hills.

It stood over about fifteen dead bodies, its glowing red eyes standing out above everything on the page. It was as if she couldn't tear her eyes off of it and no words came out of her mouth.

"Lydia? Harper?" Allison called their names.

Harper quickly snapped out of it, seeing Lydia still in a daze, her eyes staring at the paper with as much anxiety that Harper felt.

Harper began to make over exaggerated hand movements, giving her thumbs up and grinning awkwardly. "So cool!" She attempted. "Looks terrifying."

"It looks like a big wolf. See you in history." Lydia got up and walked away.

Allison sent Harper a look and went back to reading as Harper threw her apple in the bin at the end of their table. Just as Harper was about to dismiss herself, a hand grabbed her shoulder and dragged her away from the table. The familiar scent of Stiles filled her nostrils and she relaxed, following along. Scott walked behind us, trying to keep his head down.

"Scott? Scott!" Allison called after him, but Scott kept going.

☹☻

When Harper's free period finally rolled around, all she wanted to do was go to the library so she could pretend to read a book while actually just sleeping, but Stiles was already waiting for her outside her German class when she left.

Apparently, they were going to help Scott control his anger before Derek picked him up from the animal clinic tonight. How they were going to do that, she didn't know.

Stiles and Harper made it to the lacrosse field and she sat down on the bench beside Stiles, who began to pull things out of the large sports bag he had carried here. He pulled out a black strap thing and handed it to Scott.

"Here. Put this on."

Scott took it and inspected it. "Isn't this one of the heart rate monitors for the track team?" He asked, half amused and half worried.

"Yeah, I borrowed it." Stiles claimed.

The two of them both raised our eyebrows at him. "Stole it." Scott corrected him.

"Temporarily misappropriated." The hazel eyed boy insisted. "Coach uses it to monitor his heart rate with his phone while he jogs, and you're gonna wear it for the rest of the day."

"Isn't that coach's phone?" Harper gestured towards the unfamiliar phone in Stiles' hand.

Stiles nodded, licking his lips. "That, I stole." He nodded.

"Stiles!" She whined. "We're gonna get in so much trouble."

Stiles rolled his eyes and placed a hand on her knee. "Don't worry." He sighed. "I'll take the blame. We need it because when Scott's heart rate goes up, he goes wolf." He looked to the werewolf for confirmation. "Right?"

Scott nodded so the Stilinski boy continued.

"When you're playing lacrosse, when you're with Allison, whenever you get angry. Maybe learning to control it is tied to learning to control your heart rate."

Scott grinned. "Like The Incredible Hulk."

Harper scoffed, "kind of."

"No... I'm like The Incredible Hulk." Scott smiled cockily, causing her to smile a little, too. Times like this reminded her of when their life wasn't so stressful, even though that was only about a couple of weeks ago.

"Would you shut up and put the strap on?" Stiles sighed.

Scott obeyed and Stiles told Harper to duct tape his hands together behind his back. She did so, doing it as tight as she could without hurting him. 

"This isn't exactly how I wanted to spend my free period." Scott sighed and Harper agreed with him. The library was practically calling her name.

Stiles ignored him as he picked up the bag and a lacrosse stick, walking away. She followed him, stopping where he dropped the bag.

"All right. You ready?"

"No."

"Remember," Stiles called. "Don't get angry."

"What great advice." Harper spoke sarcastically as she set the phone up. Stiles glared at her before cradling a ball in the lacrosse net and shooting it straight at Scott.

Harper winced as Scott groaned, flinching away from it. Stiles just laughed, getting another ball and hitting him again. She watched with furrowed brows as the heart rate on coach's phone slowly began to rise, praying that Scott had enough control to not wolf out at school.

Maybe this wasn't a good idea.

"Okay, that one kinda hurt." Scott winced, trying to keep cool.

"Quiet." Stiles called. "Remember, you're supposed to be thinking about your heart rate, all right? About staying calm."

"Stay calm. Staying calm. Staying totally calm." Scott began to quietly chant to himself as Stiles continued to throw balls at him, hitting him almost every single time.

Harper began to block out the boys as they bickered, concentrating on coach's phone. She began to get anxious as Scott's heart rate continued to rise, up into its 160's.

"Stiles, this isn't good..." Harper showed him the phone as Scott dropped to his knees. Stiles lost the smirk and he called Scott's name.

The werewolf continued to grunt and groan, his face screwed up with anger before he managed to rip the duct tape off from around his wrists. He collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily. His heart beat slowly began to decrease along with his rapid breathing and he fell onto his back.

"Scott? You okay?" Harper asked as they moved over to him. "You started to change."

Scott spoke, his voice semi-scratchy. "From anger." He gulped. "But it was more than that. It was like, the angrier I got, the stronger I felt."

"So it is anger, then. Derek's right." She could tell that Stiles hated to admit it, since he hated the older werewolf more than he hates Harris.

Scott panted. "I can't be around Allison."

"Because she makes you happy?" Harper raised an eyebrow.

The werewolf shook his head, squinting his eyes as he looked up at the two teenagers in front of him. "No, because she makes me weak."

Harper raised her eyebrows, about to make a comment on how that was kind of stupid, when her phone pinged in the pocket of her dress.

She pulled it out, groaning when she saw a notification from her calendar.

Period 5: free period- counselling w/ ms morrell

Harper sent the boys an unconvincing smile as she slipped her phone away and grabbed her backpack off of the bench, swinging it over her shoulder.

"As much as I would love to stay and chat about Scott's issues, I have my own issues to go chat about with Morrell. See you later, losers." She ruffled Scott's hair as she walked away.

☹☻

"Yeah, well, nothing's really happened since our last meeting so I don't even see the point in me being here." Harper twiddled with the ends of her hair between two of her fingers. "This is why I don't like scheduled appointments."

"Once you told me that you liked order." Morrell shuffled some papers in her hands, straightening them up and placing them on the desk. "Is it different with your emotions?"

"I don't get what you mean by that." Harper frowned, dropping her hair and flicking it over her shoulder so that it was behind her.

Ms Morrell forced a smile, showing off her pearly white teeth. Harper hated it when she fake smiled at her.

"Do you only feel the need to talk about your emotions when you're at breaking point? When you've bottled everything up and suddenly the lid won't close?" Ms Morrell leaned forwards.

Harper hated her poetic speaking more than her fake smiles.

"I guess."

No amount of counselling would ever stop Harper from feeling embarrassed about talking about her feelings.

"My office is a safe zone, Harper. You can tell me anything, happy or sad. Whatever you say here will not leave these doors, unless I feel like you are in some kind of danger."

Harper wanted to tell Morrell everything. How badly she missed her parents and her grandfather, how worried she was about her grandma, and Scott, and Derek, and the Alpha and her new feelings for her best friend. Or the fact that she could be a supernatural creature.

But she wouldn't understand.

"I was at the video store." Harper muttered before thinking.

Morrell nodded. "I heard. Do you want to talk about that?"

Harper sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I quit my job there. I don't want to go back."

Morrell nodded again. "And you don't have to. How would being back there make you feel?"

"Like I feel every time I go past that mental hospital." Harper whispered. "But not as bad."

Ms Morrell pursed her lips together, her hands clasped on the desk. "An overwhelming sense of panic? The urge to scream?"

Harper raised her eyebrows. "How do you remember every single thing I say to you?" Harper questioned. "You don't even take any notes."

"I just have a great memory, I guess." Morrell smiled slightly. "And you don't ever tell me much. You're not open."

The teenager crossed her arms. "Sure I am. I am very open. Like a book."

"Not with me, you're not." Morrell's perfectly straightened hair fell slightly in front of her face as she leaned forwards. "There is something you're not telling me, Harper."

Harper shook her head. "There's nothing. It's nothing. I need to go."

The young adult glanced at the clock above Harper's head and nodded. "You better get to your next period."

Harper grabbed her back and left the room quickly. Maybe she would skip her session next week.

With her head down, she attempted to leave the office unseen, only to walk straight into somebody. Harper toppled backwards, only for arms to catch her and pull her up quickly.

Much to her surprise, Isaac Lahey stood in front of her, watching her nervously.

"You okay?" He asked, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "I wasn't really looking where I was going... I was late for a meeting with Ms Morrell. Sorry."

Harper shook her head. "Please, don't apologise. I wasn't watching where I was going either. Oh, and don't worry, you're not late. I literally just left her room."

The curly haired boy forced a small smile. "Great. See you in chemistry, Harper."

"See ya."


	15. Chapter 15

"Hi, Harper."

Harper looked up, holding back an eye roll when she saw Matt stood next to her. He shoved his bag under the table and sat down. 

"Hi, Matt." She gave a fake smile, tapping her pen on the desk (a habit that she had picked up from Stiles).

Matt didn't say anything for a few seconds. "So... did you do the German homework?"

Harper glanced down at the paper in front of her where in bold writing it said "GERMAN HOMEWORK". She picked it up, waving it slightly at him with a small smile.

"Yep." She muttered awkwardly. "You?"

It wasn't that Harper didn't like him because he was a bit odd, she didn't like him because he made her feel uncomfortable. Every time she saw him all she could think of was the fact that he had wanted to take pictures of her for his own pleasure.

She found that really unsettling. She couldn't help but feel like something was off with the boy.

Matt nodded, "of course. I didn't get question four, though."

Harper moved her paper closer to him. "You can copy mine." She offered.

Just because she didn't like him didn't mean she was going to be mean to him. Harper was nice to everyone- well, most people, anyway. Plus, Matt was being nice to her so she didn't see a problem.

Matt took her work, smiling. "You're really nice, Harper."

"Thanks."

"Do you not find that people walk over you because of it?" He questioned, not looking up as he copied her neat handwriting.

Harper found the question odd.

"Huh?"

"Well, I mean, you hang out with Stilinski and McCall, right? And then Lydia Martin and Allison Argent. Don't they take advantage of you because you're so kind?"

"No, because my friends are nice to me." Harper defended. "Why do you want to know, anyway?"

Matt shrugged. "Just curious. They look like they walk over you."

"Yeah, well, they don't." Harper suddenly snapped.

The pair stayed in silence as the teacher began to start her lesson.

"Hallo, Klasse." Mrs Jennings began to write on the whiteboard.

"I wouldn't take advantage of you." Harper heard Matt mutter under his breath.

Harper shuddered, eyes a little wider with disgust as Matt gave her the sheet back, his hand skimming over hers in the process.

...

Economics with Coach was one of Harper's least favourite lessons, after German with Matt of course. Sure, Coach is one of her favourite teachers, but his teaching style scares her. He randomly calls on people, he yells, he makes you read to the whole class. Harper's anxiety doesn't appreciate that much. She was constantly on edge in his lessons.

"Lets go. Sit, sit, sit, sit." He yelled as we walked through the door. "We've got a lot to cover today. Let's go."

Scott sat down in the middle of the classroom and she sat down next to him, leaving an open space behind her and Scott. Stiles was about to sit behind Harper when Scott hissed, "Hey, Stiles. Sit behind me, dude."

Stiles quickly nodded, grabbing his backpack and holding it against his chest as he moved to literally jump into the seat, but Allison beat him to it. She shot him a sweet smile as she sat down and Stiles quickly apologised, sitting back down behind Harper again.

Harper mentally rolled her eyes at Scott. Maybe Allison making Scott weak wasn't such a bad thing. As long as he was weak he couldn't wolf out in class, right? But like he said, he couldn't defend himself and everybody else, either.

"Hey." Allison smiled at her boyfriend. "I haven't seen you all day."

"Uh, yeah." Scott replied convincingly. "I've been super busy."

Allison nodded. "When are you gonna get your phone fixed?" She asked. "I feel like I'm totally disconnected from you."

"Uh, soon. Real soon."

"I changed lab partners, by the way." She changed the subject.

"Oh, to who?"

Allison grinned innocently. "To you, dummy."

Harper zoned out of their conversation, the cringe too strong for her to handle. Scott was so bad at handling situations that it actually made her feel bad for him.

Coach slammed a book down on his desk, pulling her out of her thoughts. Harper's heart beat picked up a little and she sat up alert, ready to be picked on. Scott gave an uneasy glance at her, hearing her heart beating quickly. She shot him a weak smile.

"Let's settle down." Coach scanned the classroom. "Lets start with a quick summary of last night's reading."

Half the class raised their hands but Harper sunk into her seat, avoiding eye contact and trying to look as neutral as possible.

"Greenburg, put your hand down." Coach Finstock groaned. "Everybody knows that you did the reading. How about..." He looked in Harper's direction and she quickly looked down at her desk.

Oh crap. Harper, you looked away too quick, you idiot. Now he's going to pick on you. You messed up. You messed up. You messed up. You messed-

"McCall."

A weight lifted off her shoulders and she looked back up, but she still felt bad for her friend who she was ninety nine percent sure didn't do the reading.

"What?" Scott looked up. He wasn't even listening?

"The reading." Coach moved some books out of his way to sit down on his desk.

"Last night's reading?" Scott asked.

"How about the reading of The Gettysburg Address?" He teased. Some people laughed and Scott looked at him in confusion. "That's sarcasm. You familiar with the term 'sarcasm', McCall?"

"Very." Scott turned his head to look at Stiles who grinned smugly. A small smile tugged at her own lips.

"Did you do the reading or not?"

"Um..." Scott stalled. "I think I forgot."

"Nice work, McCall." Coach muttered. "It's not like you're averaging a 'D' in this class."

More people snickered.

"Come on, buddy." He stopped in front of Scott's desk. "You know I can't keep you on the team if you have a 'D'."

Harper heard the sound of the heart monitor from behind her and tensed slightly.

"How about you summarise the previous night's reading?" Coach spoke. "No? How about the night before that? How about you summarise anything you've ever read in your entire life?"

The heart beat monitor was rising from behind her and she turned to face Stiles who was looking anxious down at the phone under the table, his head rubbing his forehead as he glanced up at her, shooting Harper a worried look which she returned.

"No? A blog? How about... How about the back of a cereal box? No? How about the adults-only warning from your favourite website you visit every night?" Coach continued to mock him. "Anything?"

Scott carried on shaking his head and looking down and the heart monitor carried on bleeping quicker. Come on, Scott.

"Thank you, McCall, thank you. Thank you, McCall!" He slammed his hands down onto a desk, scaring Harper. "Thank you for extinguishing any last flicker of hope I have for your generation. You just blew it for everybody. Thanks. Next practice you can start with suicide runs."

Suddenly, the heart monitor behind her began to decrease, causing Harper to turn around. Stiles and Harper shared a look and the two teenagers both looked at Scott, seeing him holding Allison's hand from underneath the desk.

☹☻

"It's her." Stiles claimed as he pushed the doors open, leading them into the hallway.

"What do you mean?" Scott asked.

"It's Allison." The Stilinski boy insisted. "Remember what you told me about the night of the full moon? You were thinking about her, right? About protecting her."

"Okay." Scott nodded, not yet catching on like Harper had as she nodded along with what Stiles was trying to explain.

"Remember the night of the first lacrosse game? You said you could hear her voice out on the field." He continued.

"Yeah, I did."

"Well, so that's what brought you back, so you could score. And then after the game in the locker room, you didn't kill her. At least, not like how you were going to kill Harper and I."

Scott shot him a look and Stiles sighed. "She brings you back, is what I'm saying."

"No, no, no, but it's not always true." Scott interrupted. "Because literally every time I'm kissing her or touching her-"

Harper made a face and Stiles cut him off. "No, that's not the same." He moved his hands around as he explained. "When you're doing that, you're just another hormonal teenager thinking about sex, you know?"

Scott grinned and Harper grimaced. "Ew, please don't tell me you're thinking about sex right now." She cringed slightly.

Scott just chuckled. "Sorry."

"Look, back in the classroom when she was holding your hand it was different, okay? I don't think she makes you weak." Stiles changed the subject back to the important issue. "I think she actually gives you control."

"Like an anchor." Harper mumbled and Stiles smiled at her slightly.

"You mean because I love her." Scott stopped in the hallway.

"Oh my God!" Harper grinned. "You love her!"

Scott pause. "Did I just say that?"

"Yes, you just said that." Stiles rolled his eyes while Harper squealed slightly.

She couldn't help it- she had always been secretly a sucker for romance when she was younger, but now that she was older it wasn't a secret. She loved the idea of having someone love you as much as you loved them.

Scott looked at the two of them and grinned. "I love her." He confirmed, as if he was testing the words out.

"That's great. Now, moving on-"

"No, no, no, really. I think I'm totally in love with her." The smile wouldn't leave his face and Harper began to awe.

"And that's beautiful." Stiles spoke sarcastically, causing her to glare at him. "Now, before you go off and write a sonnet, can we figure this out please? Because you obviously can't be around her all the time. And we need to talk about the Harper thing too!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, sorry." Scott sighed before raising his eyebrows. "What Harper thing?" He looked at the brown eyed girl.

Harper rolled her eyes. "We can talk about it when you're sorted out, Scott. You're the priority here."

Scott looked unsure for a second before looking back at Stiles. "So, what do I do?"

Stiles sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't know." He said. "Yet."

Harper watched as Stiles moved around in a circle, his face full of concentration as he ran a hand through his buzz cut before facing them again.

"You have an idea?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"Is this idea going to get us all in trouble?" She bit her lip.

"Not you and I. Maybe." Stiles sent her an apologetic glance and she sighed.

"Ugh, let's get this over and done with then, hoes." Harper groaned.

Stiles eyes twinkled as he laughed. "That doesn't sound right coming out of your mouth with that accent."

"Shut up."

☹☻

The three teenagers walked along the car park, stopping by a truck where there were some boys hanging around nearby. Scott and Harper stopped in their tracks and Stiles turned around to face them as he grabbed Scott's shoulders.

"What are we doing?" The werewolf asked curiously.

"Stand right there." He told him and then looked at Harper. "You, stand over there." He nodded his head towards the wall. Harper nodded and walked to lean against it, watching the boys as they spoke. "Do you have your keys?"

Scott pulled his house keys out of his pocket and Stiles took them. "Perfect. Hold 'em up like so." He lifted Scott's hand for him so it was level with his shoulders and then patted it.

He glanced behind him back at the group of boys and Harper got a weird feeling in her chest, like something bad was going to happen. What are you doing, Stiles?

He turned back to Scott. "Now, whatever happens, just think of Allison. Try to find her voice like you did in the game." He explained. "Got it?"

Scott nodded and Stiles mumbled something that Harper didn't hear before he walked over towards the car. Harper's face fell when she heard keys jingle in his hands and she knew what he was doing almost immediately.

He held his hand out and scratched the key straight across the car, the sound of the metal scratching ringing her ears as both Scott and Harper's mouths fell open. Stiles came and stood back next to Harper.

"Hey, hey, hey, dude!" He yelled, pointing directly at Scott. "What do you think you're doing to that truck, bro!"

The four guys turned to face Scott and the owner of the truck visibly grew angry. "What the hell?" He yelled, his voice deep.

Scott shook his head quickly as the four of them walked over. He struggled to form a sentence as he shoved the keys back into his pocket. Before Scott could get a word out, the guy had punched him right in the jaw, sending him straight to the ground.

Harper shrieked. "Stiles! What the bloody hell is this plan?"

Stiles was cringing himself as they began to fight. When Harper said fight she meant Scott curled up on the ground while the four guys around him beat the crap out of him. Stiles looked down at Coach's phone as the monitor began to beat quicker.

"Come on, come on, come on." He muttered under his breath. "Uh, that's not okay." He groaned when one of them sent a kick directly to the back of Scott's head.

Harper winced, grabbing onto Stiles' arm. "I hate you so much for this, Stilinski." She muttered, forcing herself to watch.

Stiles sighed. "It's all part of the plan."

Scott's heart monitor slowly began to come back down just as Mr Harris walked out of the building. "Stop!" He yelled. "Stop it right now!"

The four guys ran away and Scott grunted, rolling onto his back. His nose was bleeding.

"What do you idiots think you're doing?" He grumbled.

Stiles just grinned, showing Scott the phone. His heart rate had gone straight back down to a normal, steady pace.

☹☻

The three teens had ended up in detention with Harris. To say Harper was pissed was an understatement. Stiles knew that she wasn't talking to him and kept trying to get her attention from where she had decided to sit a row away from him and Scott. Scott kept dabbing his bloody nose with a tissue and Stiles had only just given up.

"Excuse me, sir?" Scott spoke up, grabbing Harper's attention. "I know it's detention and all, but, I'm supposed to be at work, and I don't want to get fired."

Harris almost looked like he was going to give in before he looked back down at the paper he was reading, completely ignoring Scott.

Stiles and Scott began to whisper to each other and Harper slumped down further into her seat, feeling sorry for herself. About a minute later, Harris spoke up.

"Alright, the three of you, out of here."

They all quickly hurried out of the room and Scott left straight away for work. Harper began to walk in the opposite direction of Stiles.

"Harper? Harper! Where are you going? I'm your ride." He called for her, rushing towards her. He walked quickly to keep up with Harper's fast pace. "Are you seriously ignoring me?"

"You got me a detention, Stiles." She grumbled, rolling her eyes.

Stiles frowned, his eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "Why is that such a big deal? It's just a detention."

"Yeah, except I've never had a detention before, Stiles." She stopped to hiss at him.

To somebody that cares way too much about what people think and not getting into trouble, having a detention was a massive deal to her.

Stiles laughed. "I get detentions all the time. It's no big deal."

"Well it is to me."

Stiles' face fell. "Why is this bothering you so much?"

"Because I'm me and you're you, Stiles!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" He glared at her slightly.

"It means, I'm not like you. I don't talk in class, I don't get detentions or try to get my best friend beaten up just because I'm mad at them. I don't talk back at teachers and I don't get my friends into trouble." She spat at him, the words tumbling out before she could even process them.

Harper immediately felt awful. She was about to apologise when Stiles spoke up.

Stiles looked at her, hurt. "Yeah, well at least I'm not some bitch that tries too hard to make people like her just because her parents-"

He paused and Harper swallowed, staring at him. His angry face fell and he opened his mouth to apologise but she just laughed.

"Go to hell, Stiles."


	16. Chapter 16

Stiles had went after Harper as soon as Harper had left the school, begging her to forgive him. He went as far as to drive his jeep alongside her as she walked home in the dark, but she pretended that he wasn't there. Once Harper got back to her house, she rushed up the driveway as he jumped out of his car, slamming the front door before he could even come inside.

"Oh dear." Her grandma stood in the doorway of the kitchen, drying her hands on a patterned tea towel with a frown on her face. "Have you and Stiles had a falling out?"

Rolling her eyes, Harper nodded. "You could call it that." She muttered, her back against the door as Stiles yelled her name from the other side, knocking.

The old woman in front of her sighed. "Darling, you can't go through life holding grudges. Whatever he said couldn't have been that bad." She spoke so softly that it got on Harper's nerves.

"Harper?" Stiles called. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You know that I'd never say anything like that to you in purpose. I was hurt and it was in the heat of the moment. Please answer the door."

"Go upstairs." Rose narrowed her eyes at her granddaughter. "I'll answer the door."

Nodding, Harper jogged up the stairs, sitting at the very top but out of the way so that they couldn't see her. She listened as her grandma opened the door.

"Sweetheart, you need to give her time. You know how Harper gets when somebody she loves hurts her. She really cares about you, so she won't be mad for long." Harper could hear her grandma tell him sweetly.

Stiles sighed loudly. "Please just tell her that I was wrong."

Harper left after that, going upstairs and slamming the door behind her. For some reason, no tears fell. Normally, due to how mentally and physically weak she was, she would be bawling into her pillow by now, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

It was as if Harper was empty from all emotions.

☹☻

It was cold in the cemetery, and nobody was around. It was a habit of Harper's that every time she was upset she would go and visit her parents grave.

She sat down on the dewy grass, her fingers skimming through the blades, occasionally plucking one out of the hard soil. Harper didn't say anything for the first ten minutes, she just sat there.

Eventually, her eyes flickered up to the familiar head stones placed right next to each other.

IN LOVING MEMORY OF   
MONICA KATE VERUM  
1971 — 2008  
LOVING MOTHER, DAUGHTER, AND WIFE

Harper's gaze moved towards her father's head stone, about to read from it when she heard a twig snap from behind her. Harper whirled around, her heartbeat calming down when she saw the familiar figure of Isaac Lahey stood there.

"Isaac." She breathed. "What are you doing here?"

Isaac shrugged, moving to sit down beside her. "I sort of work here for my dad sometimes. But I'm not here for that tonight."

He jerked his head towards the head stone beside her fathers, seeing a woman's name with "Lahey" after it. Harper immediately understood, frowning.

"Your mum?" She questioned softly and he nodded.

"Brother too," he sighed sadly, loosening the scarf wrapped around his neck.

Harper offered him a sad smile. "Everyone says it gets better one day."

"When is that day supposed to come?" Isaac chuckled bitterly.

Harper shrugged. "I don't know, but I intend to wait around for it. What about you?"

Isaac sighed, "I guess. Sometimes I don't know if it's worth it or not."

"In the end it will be, Lahey." Harper's eyes lowered to where her mother was buried. "My mum always said it would all turn out okay, and my mum is no liar."

"Maybe for you." Isaac was looking at his own mother's grave with teary eyes. "Sometimes it feels like I'm drowning and I can't come back up."

"I'm not religious, but maybe you are. My mum was, and she always said God has a plan for everybody, so everything will work out how it should in the final run." Harper softly calmed him.

Isaac ran a hand through his hair, glancing at her. "I'm not religious, either, but that was kind of nice to hear."

Harper smiled softer. "She'd be proud of you, Isaac. I don't know you too well, but you seem lovely."

Isaac opened his mouth to say something when her phone buzzed loudly in her pocket. She contemplated ignoring it, but thought of her parents.

Her mother had loved Stiles, and it was most likely him.

Harper bit her bottom lip, pulling her phone out of the back pocket of her grey jogging bottoms and opening it. She clicked on her text messages, seeing one from a random unknown number.

She squinted her eyes to read the bright screen in the dark.

Unknown: it's scott. come to the school. URGENT. stiles is hurt.

For a second, Harper wondered if it was Stiles using sick tactics to make her talk to him, but then she realised that despite what he said, he would never intentionally worry her.

"I have to go, Isaac." She blurted, standing up quickly. "I am so sorry."

Isaac shook his head, worried. "It's okay. Family emergency?"

"Friend emergency. I'll talk to you at school tomorrow. Bye!" Harper darted out of the cemetery as quickly as she could.

Luckily the school was pretty close by to the cemetery, so after ten minutes of running, she finally made it.   
She arrived at the school car park, her heart pounding out of her chest as she panted rapidly.

Harper's mouth felt dry and her hands were clammy as she pulled out her phone to text that unknown number that was apparently Scott.

To Scott: im here. where are you guys?????

Shoving her phone back into her pocket, Harper started to jog towards the main entrance of the school, only stopping when she saw the familiar blue jeep. The hood of the jeep had caved in and it looked like things had been ripped from it. Harper prayed that Stiles was okay. He can't die without him knowing how she feels about him.

Harper almost didn't notice Derek and Jackson's cars parked nearby, but she didn't care as she rushed into the building, being careful to be quiet as it suddenly dawned on her that the Alpha was most likely inside. With no reply yet from Scott, Harper's only chance of finding them would be to look for them, which could take a long time.

Panic spread quickly while she walked down the main hallway, poking her head through doors as her hands shook by her sides. She considered calling for them, but that would only get her killed.

Before Harper even had the chance to go up the stairs to the left, she heard a loud growl from behind her, causing the petite girl's heart to skip a beat.

Harper forced her feet to turn around. Standing there on two legs, hunched over and panting, was the Alpha. Its head moved to sniff the air above it before it dropped onto all fours, growling again. Its bright red eyes bored into panicked brown ones as Harper took a step back, ready to run.

Her dainty hand grabbed the railing and she forced her shaking legs up them, a scream coming from her lips from the fright as she pushed herself to run. Harper got up the stairs and half way down the next hall before a heavy weight tackled her to the ground. There was no time for her to react before the Alpha grabbed her by the ankles, twisting her small body over so she was lying on her back.

"Scott! Stiles!" Harper screamed loudly, praying that one of them would come and help her. Scott should be able to hear her with his werewolf powers, she figured.

The Alpha stood over Harper, its teeth bared as it growled, drool dripping from its pointed fangs, over her trembling body. Its claws sunk into the ground beside her, and its nose visibly moved as it sniffed the air, as it sniffed her. Harper's heart was pounding out of her chest and she was sure if this thing was a more evolved version of Scott and Derek, it could hear it.

Harper bet it could even smell the sweat covering her palms, and hear her blood rushing around inside her body. She bet she reeked of anxiety. Harper bet it was feeding off of it. The Verum girl could tell it enjoyed the sense of power it got from having her pinned underneath it, so weak and so vulnerable. Like a dog with a new chew toy.

The teenage girl didn't want to be a chew toy. But with nobody to tell the big bad alpha off, there was nothing stopping it from biting her or scratching her or killing her. The tension was so thick as her chest heaved up and down, trying to control her heavy breathing. She almost wanted it to get it over and done with. She couldn't bear it anymore.

"Harper," it, or more like he, whispered against her ear, his head moving next to Harper's ear so she could feel his hot breath down her neck, causing Harper to push herself further into the ground beneath her.

Sharp pains from the rough floor scratching her back underneath her caused her to wince, but it was nothing like the pain the poor girl felt next. Harper had no time to comprehend that the Alpha knew her name before the worst pain she had ever felt in her entire life came to her shoulder where her shirt had risen.

A scream erupted from the back of her throat, Harper's back arching up as the Alpha sunk his teeth into her skin, hard enough for blood to start to pour. He growled slightly, his ears suddenly perking up, obviously hearing something, before darting off down the hallway.

Salty tears escaped Harper's eyes, travelling down her face as her shaky hands moved to go to her shoulder. Harper pulled her hand away when a stinging sensation occurred, only to see blood covered her entire hand. She knew she had to get up before it came back. Harper slowly sat up.

What was she supposed to do now? It scared Harper how she wasn't sobbing or having a meltdown when she probably should be. Her heart raced as she took off down the hallway in the opposite direction that the Alpha had gone in, laboured breaths coming from her lips as she struggled to run with her messed up shoulder.

Harper heard yelling from down the hall, her heart skipping yet another beat. She knew that they were all in there. Harper ran quicker than before, relief rushing over her as she fell against the door, slamming her fists against it as she yelled for her two best friends to open the door. Harper heard her name being yelled before the door swung open.

Scott pulled the frantic girl inside, slamming and locking the door behind her. Hands were on her body and she tugged her black shirt over her shoulder, glad that nobody could see the blood through the dark material.

Stiles' hands cupped her face, forcing Harper to look him in the eyes. As soon as his hazel eyes locked with her brown ones, she chocked back a sob and he sighed, grabbing her and wrapping her into one of the tightest hugs ever.

"What happened? Did you see Derek, Harper?" Allison asked urgently from beside her as she clung to Stiles' like a starfish on the side of a fish tank.

Harper sniffled. "Derek?"

She ignored the agonising pain in her shoulder as she forced herself away from the only boy that gave her comfort.

Harper turned around and saw Scott nodding at her from behind Allison, and Lydia and Jackson who were all looking at her cautiously.

She nodded, quickly catching on with what Scott was attempting to mouth at her. "Yeah." She swallowed. "But I got away. Thankfully."

Jackson's face hardened. "Call the cops." He snapped, mainly looking as Stiles.

"No." Stiles replied stubbornly, not even giving himself anytime to think things over.

Harper understood what Stiles was saying though. If she had one parent left then she would do everything in her power to protect them, even if that meant dying herself. If Noah turned up at the school then the Alpha could potentially freak out and kill him and then them.

The star athlete's entire body tensed as he spluttered, "what do you mean 'no?'".

Stiles blinked from beside Harper. "I mean no, you wanna hear it in Spanish?" He paused for a second before adding in a heavy Spanish accent, "noh."

In any other circumstance Harper probably would have laughed at Stiles, but unfortunately she had just been bitten by the Alpha himself and now her friends and her are trapped in a classroom being cornered by him.

"Look, Derek killed three people, okay?" Stiles attempted to reason with Jackson. "We don't know what he's armed with."

Harper nodded from beside him as Jackson flung his hands in the air. "Your dad is armed with the entire sheriff's department. Call him." He spat.

Lydia shook her head, taking her phone out. "I'm calling." She muttered, dialling the three numbers.

"Lydia," Harper sighed. "Please just listen, okay?"

Ignoring her, the strawberry blonde put the phone to her ear. "Yes, we're at Beacon Hills High School. We're trapped and we need you to... But..," A look of confusion crossed Lydia's face as she pulled the phone down from her ear to look at it.

"She hung up on me." Harper had never heard Lydia sound so scared in her life.

Jackson closed his eyes angrily and Allison shot her a look of disbelief. "The police hung up on you?" She repeated, annoyed.

"She said they got a tip warning them that there were gonna be prank calls about the break-in at the high school." Lydia panicked. Harper shared a look with Stiles. "She said if I called again that they're gonna trace it and have me arrested."

"Okay, then call again." Allison raised her voice slightly.

"No, they won't trace a cell." Stiles warned them. "And they'll send a car to your house before they send anyone here."

Allison frowned, "what the... What... What is this?" She put her face in her hands as if they knew the answers. "Why does Derek want to kill us? Why is he killing anyone?"

Lydia, Jackson and the brunette questioning them, all turned to face Scott, Stiles and Harper. They looked at them for the answers, frowns on their faces. Scott looked at his two other friends and Stiles rolled his head as Harper stared at the ground, waiting for one of the boys to lie.

"Why's everyone looking at me?" Scott finally broke the silence.

"Is he the one that sent her that text?" Lydia's voice wobbled.

"No." Scott snapped. "I mean, I don't know."

Harper frowned, realising that Allison, Lydia and Jackson were probably here because they got a text message, just like her. Thinking about the text message now, she realised that it was most likely the Alpha that had used a random phone to text her. He lured her into the school for the bite. But why did he want Allison too?

"Is he the one that called the police?" Allison asked.

Her questions were starting to annoy Harper, and clearly Scott too. "I don't know!" He yelled at her.

A look of hurt crossed Allison's face as she stared at him in both sadness and disblief, turning her face slightly. It looked like she was trying not to cry, biting the inside of her cheek to help.

"All right, why don't we ease back on the throttle here, yeah?" Stiles grabbed Scott's arm and her good shoulder, steering them away from the group. He whispered, "Okay, first off, throwing Derek under the bus, nicely done."

Scott stammered, "I didn't know what to say. I had to say something." He wore a panicked expression on his face as he looked in between the two of them. "And if he's dead then it doesn't matter, right?"

Harper's eyes widened. "Hold up." She hissed. "Derek's dead?"

The werewolf sighed. "I'll explain if we make it out of here alive." He paused. "Oh, God. I just totally bit her head off."

She rolled her eyes at his last comment. Of course he was worrying about raising his voice at Allison while we were being cornered into a classroom by an Alpha that probably wanted them dead.

"And she'll totally get over it." Stiles tried to calm him down, putting his hands on his shoulders. "Bigger issues at hand here, like how do we get out alive?"

Scott turned to face them, lowering his voice even more. "But we are alive!" He whispered. "It could have killed us already. It's like it's cornering us or something."

Harper kept quiet.

"So what, he wants to eat us all at the same time?" Stiles stared at him in disbelief.

He shook his head. "No! Derek said it wants revenge."

"Against who?" She mumbled.

Scott realised something. "Allison's family?" It came out more of a question than a statement.

"Maybe that's what the text was about." Stiles wondered out loud. Scott shot him a look. "Someone had to send it." Stiles cried in defence.

Jackson suddenly yelled. "Okay, assheads. New plan." He pointed his hand at the Stilinski boy. "Stiles calls his useless dad and tells him to send someone with a gun and decent aim. Are we good with that?"

Everybody stared at each other, waiting for Stiles to speak. Stiles looked to Scott and Harper for help but she just looked away, feeling too sick to meet his eyes. It was like the walls were closing in as she bit her lip to stop herself from throwing up.

"He's right." Scott told Stiles from beside Harper, causing her to look up. "Tell him the truth if you have to, just call him."

Stiles almost looked hurt. "I'm not watching my dad get eaten alive." He spoke quietly.

Nobody said anything for a second and Stiles shook his head, sighing. Harper reached and grabbed his hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

"Give me the phone!" Jackson yelled. Hands suddenly grabbed her away from him and pushed Harper backwards.

Jackson was quickly cut off by a fist to the face. Scott rushed to Stiles, pushing him back so he couldn't hurt the lacrosse captain again. Harper's eyes widened and she moved next to Stiles, checking his hand.

"Jackson!" Allison cried, moving towards him. She helped him as he cupped his injured nose. "Are you okay? Hey, are you okay?"

Lydia watched in shock, not knowing what to do or how to react to Stiles punching her boyfriend and then her best friend helping him. Harper turned to tell Stiles to calm down but he had already pulled out his phone, glaring at Jackson as he dialled his dads number.

"Dad, hey, it's me." Stiles held the phone to his ear. "And it's your voicemail. Look, I need you to call me back now. Like, right now."

A bang suddenly came from behind them, rattling the double doors and the chairs that they had stacked up after Harper had come in. Lydia ran away from the doors to grab Jackson's arm as everybody moved together, slowly backing away from the door.

"We're at the school, okay. We're at the school."

The banging continued as Stiles put the phone away and grabbed hold of Harper tightly as Lydia began to cry. Bolts and nails began to fall out of the hinges of the doors, the chairs sliding forward a small fraction with every harsh shove.

"The kitchen, the door out of the kitchen leads to the stairwell." Stiles muttered loud enough for everybody to hear.

"Which only goes up." Scott cried.

Harper turned around to see Allison buried in his shoulder.

"Up is better than here!" She gulped before they began to run as fast as their legs could possibly take them.

A loud growl came from behind them as Stiles slammed the door, not even trying to look back to spot the Alpha. The noise sent chills down her spine and caused the bite to ache even more. Stiles had his hands on her back the whole time, making sure she didn't fall backwards and kept running.

Harper heard metal crunching as they legged it around a corner, up some more stairs and onto the second floor of the high school. Scott led the way, attempting to open a classroom door. When it didn't budge, Lydia and Harper rushed towards Harris' classroom. Thankfully, he hadn't locked up.

Harper stumbled inside and Scott was the last one in, shutting the door behind him and putting a chair under the door handle. If the Alpha could get past all those tables and chairs, then Harper thought it could get past a stool.

Everyone remained silent, soft panting filling the room from every teenager. Her heart was pounding out of her chest and her eyes felt more tired as the seconds dragged on. Harper leaned against one of the lab tables slightly, so slightly that nobody noticed.

The sound of heavy feet thumping slowly down the tiled corridor distracted her from the pain. Distant growling echoed in Harper's ears and everybody held their breaths, Lydia whimpering. She slapped her hand across her mouth to stop her from making any sounds.

When they were all sure that the coast was clear, they relaxed slightly.

"Jackson, how many people can fit in your car?" Scott leaned forward to whisper.

He replied."Five. If someone squeezes on someone's lap."

Allison's face twisted into a look of disbelief. "Five?" She hissed. "I barely fit in the back."

Stiles shook his head. "It doesn't matter. There's six of us. And besides, there's no getting out without drawing attention."

Scott looked around the room, his eyes landing on another door behind Harris' desk. He patted Stiles shoulder quickly. "What about this?" Scott asked. "It leads to the roof. We can go down the fire escape to the parking lot in, like, seconds."

"That's a deadbolt." The hazel eyed boy replied quietly.

Harper didn't hear the rest of what they were saying since they were standing next to the door and she was with the others, concentrating on keeping awake. She clenched her eyes shut briefly, opening them when Scott announced loudly, "I'm getting the key."

"Are you serious?" Allison stood in front of him.

"Well, it's the best plan." Scott sighed. "Someone has to get the key if we want to get out of here."

The tall brunette shook her head. "You can't go out there unarmed."

Stiles moved next to Harper as Scott picked up Mr Harris' pointing stick, waving it around.

If there was a world record for the most hope lost in the quickest amount of time then it would probably go to Harper Verum.

"Well, it's better than nothing." Scott huffed, looking at their judgemental faces.

"There's gotta be something else." Stiles muttered.

"There is." Lydia spoke up. They all looked at her. She nodded her head towards a glass cabinet filled with chemicals and other solutions.

"What are we gonna do? Throw acid on him?" Stiles frowned at her, frustrated.

The strawberry blonde squinted at him. "No. Like a fire bomb." She made him looks stupid as she continued. "In there is everything you need to make a self-igniting Molotov cocktail."

"You genius." Harper grinned slightly, the hope slowly starting to return. Everybody else stared at her in confusion and shock, clearly not expecting her to know such complicated words.

"What?" She muttered. "I read it somewhere."

Stiles huffed. "We don't have a key for that either."

Jackson sighed, rolling his eyes before jabbing his elbow into the glass, shattering it.

Maybe they did have a chance of making it out alive.


	17. Chapter 17

"Jackson, hand me the sulfuric acid." Lydia instructed as she mixed together a liquid and some powder stuff.

The star athlete hesitated before handing her a beaker. Lydia poured some of it inside and then began to mix it before putting a cork on the end and handing it to Scott.

Scott took it just as Allison spoke up. "No. No, this is insane, you can't do this. You cannot go out here." Her voice shook as she blinked back tears.

The werewolf leaned forwards, frowning. "We can't just sit here waiting for Stiles' dad to check his messages."

Allison simply scoffed. "You could die." She hissed. "Don't you get that? He's killed three people."

"And we're next." Scott paused. "Somebody has to do something."

"Scott, just stop." Allison grabbed his arm as Scott moved to head towards the door. "Do you remember... Do you remember when you told me you knew whether I was lying or not? That I had a tell. So do you. You're a horrible liar. And you've been lying all night."

Harper noticed Jackson smirk a little and shake his head. She gave him a death squint before turning back to the couple.

"Just... Please. Please don't go. Please don't leave us. Please." Allison begged him.

Scott didn't say anything for a few seconds. "Lock it behind me." He muttered, turning away from her.

Allison grabbed his arm tighter, turning him around and grabbing his face. She pulled him into a kiss, his hands resting on her hips. They pulled away and just stared at each other for a second before Scott was gone.

☹☻

Harper leaned against the wall next to Stiles while Jackson, Lydia and Allison leaned against the table next to them. Allison hadn't stopped crying since Scott had left, which had been about five minutes now.

"I don't get this." She sniffled. "I don't get why he's out there, why he left us. And I can't... I can't stop my hands from shaking."

"It's okay." Jackson grabbed her trembling hands in his own, holding them tight. "It's okay, it's gonna be okay."

Allison sent him a tearful smile while Stiles, Lydia and Harper frowned at them. Lydia was stood right next to them, once again not knowing how to react. 

After a few minutes, the strawberry blonde spoke up. "Jackson, you handed me the sulfuric acid, right?" She asked. "It has to be sulfuric acid. It won't ignite if it's not."

Jackson huffed. "I gave you exactly what you asked for, didn't I?"

Lydia just stared. "Yeah." She didn't sound confident. "Yeah, I'm sure you did."

All of a sudden a loud growl echoed throughout the building, a searing pain in Harper's wound occurring. Harper shrieked, dropping to the ground and holding her shoulder. Jackson fell down too, clutching his neck, but she was too absorbed in her own pain to notice.

Stiles was by her side in seconds, pulling her away from the group as Lydia and Allison moved to help the green eyed boy. He pulled her into his arms frantically as she sobbed, her back arching up every few seconds.

Her entire body felt as if it was on fire, and it had started at her shoulder. Harper's hands shook as she grabbed at her hair, tugging it while she screamed. She had never experienced physical pain like this before. The worst thing she had ever done was break her arm in two places after falling on it.

It lasted about a minute before Harper's body just fell against him, sweat beading her exhausted body as she panted heavily. Stiles wiped her hair out of her face, his hazel eyes projecting concern.

"What just happened?" He asked worriedly, checking her body over for any signs.

Harper whimpered as his hand skimmed along her hurt shoulder. Stiles paused, pulling up her sleeve and gasping at the sight. Upon her pale skin were teeth marks, crimson blood on each individual mark. She had only stopped bleeding a few minutes ago.

"The Alpha bit you?" He hissed so that the others couldn't hear.

Harper tiredly nodded, her eyes drooping. "And I'm not healing." She muttered. "Not like Scott did."

Stiles brows arched in concern, feeling himself start to panic. "Okay, so what does that mean? What did Derek say? That if the bite doesn't change you-"

"It kills you." Harper finished for him, her trembling hand clasping his large one. "I don't want to die, Sti..."

Stiles shook his head, tears burning in his eyes. "I won't let you, Harps. There has to be some logical explanation for this. We're gonna get out of here and Scott and I are going to do something. Okay?"

Sniffling, the brunette nodded in his arms, though she didn't feel hopeful at all. Harper was almost convinced that she was going to die tonight.

A key snapping in the door caught their attention as Allison leaped up. "Scott!" She shrieked, banging her fists on the door. "Scott!"

"Where is he going?" Lydia frowned.

Stiles' grip tightened on Harper's waist as he slowly guided her to her feet in case they had to run for any reason. Harper's head was pounding as Allison continued to scream and kick the door.

"Stop." Lydia told her. Allison didn't listen. "Stop!" Lydia screamed. Everyone stared at her. "Do you hear that?"

Sirens began to wail in the distance and Harper sighed in relief, squeezing Stiles' hand. Stiles held her close to him as she closed her eyes, her head falling against his chest.

☹☻

"You sure it was Derek Hale?" Sheriff Stilinski asked as they left the building, Harper still attached to Stiles' side.

Her body still felt numb and her head was pounding but she tried to look neutral. The last thing she needed was to be sent to a hospital and have to explain the massive bite mark on her shoulder.

"Yes." Scott replied.

"I saw him, too." Stiles sighed as he guided Harper down the steps and into the car park.

Harper looked up and saw Noah staring at her. "Oh, yeah, me too." She replied, her voice almost drained from any emotion.

"What about the janitor?" Scott questioned.

"We're still looking." Noah answered.

"Did you check under the bleachers? Under them?" Scott asked again, more urgently this time.

"Yeah, Scott, we looked." Noah almost snapped. "We pulled them out, just like you asked, there's nothing."

"I'm not making this up."

"I know, I believe you, I do."

"No, you don't." The werewolf insisted. "You have this look like you feel bad for me. Like you want to believe me, but I know you don't."

He sighed as Stiles leaned against the metal stair railings, pulling Harper into him so she could rest for a few seconds. Her head ducked slightly into his chest as she breathed heavily, feeling like she would pass out any minute.

"Listen to me." Noah said. "We're gonna search this whole school. We're gonna find him. Okay? I promise."

"Sheriff!" A man yelled from across the car park.

"Stay. All of you." Noah pointed at the three teenagers before walking in the direction that he had been called in.

"Well, we survived, dude." Stiles glanced at the sick girl leaning against him. "But-"

"When we were in the chemistry room, he walked right by us. You don't think he heard us? You don't think that it knew exactly where we were?" Scott interrupted him, somewhat harshly.

Stiles opened his mouth to speak but Scott cut him off yet again. "It wants me in its pack. But, I think first... I have to get rid of my old pack."

"Old pack?" Harper repeated, confused. She flinched when her head throbbed with pain.

"Allison, Jackson, Lydia..." He paused. "You two."

Stiles didn't say anything for a moment as he thought things through. "The Alpha doesn't want to kill us." He realised slowly.

"He wants me to do it." Scott muttered. "And that's not even the worst part."

"Yeah, what are we going to do with Har-"

He cut Stiles off again. "When he made me shift... I wanted to do it. I wanted to kill you. Both of you. All of you."

Scott suddenly got distracted by Deaton sat in a nearby ambulance, walking in that direction. Harper turned to see where he had gone but she fell, Stiles catching her weak body just in time. She groaned in response, his touch making her body feel even hotter than it already did.

"Looks like I'm going to have to do something myself." He muttered, pulling Harper up.

☹☻

Scott, Stiles and Harper had a ride home in the back of Noah's police car, since Stiles' jeep was wrecked. Allison had broken up with Scott, so the werewolf had been leaning against the window sadly until Noah dropped him home. Harper had fallen asleep slumped on Stiles, the pain too much for her body to handle.

"Dad?" Stiles murmured, trying not to wake the girl sleeping on him. "Harper's asleep."

Noah glanced at them in the rear view mirror before sighing. "Let her sleep in your bed. No point in waking her up. I'll text her grandmother and say that she's sleeping around our house tonight."

Stiles was relieved at his dad's words. He gently stroked Harper's pale face with the back of his fingers, admiring her beauty. She looked so peaceful sleeping, it was comforting for Stiles after witnessing her in such agony.

Sheriff Stilinski pulled up in the driveway. "Take her upstairs. I've got to go fill out some more paperwork now that we have a serial killer in Beacon Hills." Noah referred to Derek. "Why were you in the school, anyway?"

Stiles spluttered, "H-Harper's really tired, I-I should take her inside. And you have a job to get back to. So... see you soon."

He gently picked up the sleeping girl on his lap and took her out of the car as Noah sighed and drove away. Harper stirred in his arms, mumbling something. Stiles hushed her, awkwardly leaning her in his arms and digging around his back pocket for his car keys.

"Dammit." He muttered once he remembered how he had thrown the keys into a room to distract the Alpha while he and Scott were running from it.

Stiles gently shook Harper awake in his arms, knowing that he couldn't hold her while he got the spare key out from under the doormat. Harper's brown eyes flickered open and she blinked.

"I need to put you down for a sec, okay? I just need to get the house key out. You're sleeping over mine tonight." Stiles warned her.

Nodding slowly, Harper climbed to her feet, her eyes half open as she watched him quickly duck down and grab the key. With a hand on her waist, Stiles put the key in the lock and opened the door.

He made sure to lock the door behind him and took Harper up to his bedroom. She immediately lay down on his bed, not bothering to go under the covers. She was too hot to have things wrapped around her.

Stiles disappeared and came back two minutes later with a bottle-green first aid kit.

As gently as he could, he rolled up the short sleeve of her band shirt and looked at her bloody shoulder. Harper muttered something again, her eyebrows furrowing together as her eyes closed.

Stiles watched in concern as he began to clean her cut. He wanted to take her to the hospital, but he knew hospital or not, she was either going to become a werewolf or die.

Professionally bandaging the wound wouldn't make the slightest difference to her fate. It was all up to, well, fate.

That terrified Stiles.

The thought of losing the thing he cared for the most in the world brought him absolute agony. He was crazy for her, and simply the thought of Harper in pain drove Stiles mad.

Harper Jean Verum deserved the world.

Once Stiles had finished wrapping up her wound, he noticed that she had fallen asleep leaning against his headboard. Sighing softly, he gently pushed her down so she was resting her head on his pillows instead.

The hazel eyed boy went into the bathroom and changed into a plain white t-shirt and a pair of grey jogging bottoms. After making sure Harper was okay one last time, he went and sat in his comfy arm chair, falling asleep after about an hour of just thinking.

☹☻

"Ego quaerere veritatem."

Stiles jolted up in his arm chair, frantically scanning the room for a voice. He looked towards Harper, seeing her still sound asleep, the room still dark since he had only been asleep for about thirty minutes.

"Ego quaerere veritatem."

This time he saw Harper's lips move, but she still didn't wake up. Stiles figured she was sleep talking, but what the hell was she saying? The only language that Harper knew other than English was German, and he was pretty sure whatever she just said wasn't either languages.

Eyes wide, he crept over, hovering above her as she said it again, whispering it this time. After a couple of seconds another one came, and then again, and again, and again.

Her voice began to raise until she was screaming and shaking, repeating those three words over and over again with such panic that it made Stiles feel sick. Stiles cried out as he held onto her shoulders, pushing her back into the mattress as she struggled against him, her eyes still closed as she yelled.

"Harper!" He yelled, concern dripping from his tone. "Wake up! You have to wake up!"

Harper's brown eyes suddenly snapped open, although Stiles was almost sure he saw a flicker of purple in them when they first opened. He was shocked, stumbling a little as the teenage girl began to freak out, wondering why she was breathing so heavy and why Stiles looked terrified.

"What happened?!" Harper asked frantically.

Stiles gulped, eyebrows furrowed. "I think you're changing."

☹☻

"Why didn't you guys tell me?!" Scott burst through the door at ten in the morning the next day, a frantic look on his face as his eyes darted between his two best friends. "This is the kind of thing you tell your best friend as soon as it happens!"

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Really, Scott? I tried telling you last night- like four times! But every time you just talked about Allison or the Alpha."

A guilty look took place on his face. "I'm sorry." He looked over at Harper this time. "I am so, so sorry. Let me see it."

Harper sighed as she rolled the sleeve up, showing him the bandage. No blood had come through thanks to Stiles' amazing first aid skills. Stiles gently peeled back the bandage, showing the bite marks.

But that was all that was there- and maybe that was the scariest part.

Scott raised his eyebrows at Harper. "I healed after a few hours. How long has it been for you?"

"Fourteen." Harper muttered, worried. "But they've already healed a lot- just not as quick as you. Does this mean I'm changing? Should I be feeling something? Or am I dying?"

"Maybe you're immune?" Scott suggested, scratching the top of his head as Harper sat up further on Stiles' bed, wanting to hear what he had to say.

Stiles shook his head. "No normal human being heals that quick." He looked over at Harper.

"So I'm dying?" Harper asked, feeling completely defeated. Would she know if her body had rejected the bite?

"No." Stiles shook his head quickly. "No, you're not dying."

"Stiles-" Scott sighed.

"No, Scott. She's not dying." Stiles refused to even think about it as he looked at Harper. "We will figure it out. Maybe it's just different for female werewolves."

Not wanting to upset Stiles any further, Scott changed the subject from Harper's potential death. 

"Do you feel anything?" He asked. "Ur, more powerful? Confident? Easy going?"

Harper thought for a second before shaking her head. "Nope. Still have a self esteem lower than your IQ."

Scott groaned. "I'm trying to help."

Harper cringed. "Sorry. I cope through stressful situations by insulting people."

"How come you never make fun of Stiles?"

"Because Stiles doesn't make fun of my Hello Kitty pyjamas!"

☹☻

That day, Thursday, Beacon Hills High had sent out a notice that the school wouldn't be open until next Monday because of the attacks that occurred last night. This was perfect for the Stilinski boy, since he was determined not to let Harper out of his sight for a while.

Harper had been lying on Stiles' bed since Scott had left about an hour later, her eyes closed but sleep not welcoming her. Every time the brunette would drift off, she would see those glowing red eyes right above her, and her eyes would snap open and she would freak out.

Stiles was there both times it happened, calming her down instantly with hugs and hot chocolate. Harper had never been more grateful for Stiles Stilinski.

Stiles paused the movie they were watching on his laptop when Harper's phone began to ring, a picture of her and her grandma coming up on the screen. Harper sent him a small smile before standing up and going into the bathroom to talk to her privately.

"Hello?"

"Harper? Oh gosh, Harper. Are you okay?"

"Grandma, I'm fine." The brunette forced a small chuckle as she leaned against the wall.

"Are you sure? Noah called me last night but I didn't think you'd be awake until about now, since I figured you'd probably had a bad nights sleep. I wanted to call you but I didn't want to freak you out and I-"

"Grandma!" Harper interrupted her. "I'm fine, I swear. I'm not hurt in any way, okay? I'm going to be okay."

"Are you lying?"

Harper gulped. "N-no. I promise."

She hated making fake promises, especially to her grandma of all people, but she couldn't put anymore stress in her grandmother's life. Rose didn't deserve it. Right now she should be retired and living in a nice home with her husband, not looking after her orphaned granddaughter and working full time.

"Okay." Rose whispered, sounding defeated. "Please come home tonight. Bring Stiles and Scott. We can all have dinner together. What is it that they like again?"

"They like your spaghetti, grandma." Harper replied. "I'll ask them. Stiles will probably say yeah, but Scott's feeling a little down right now, so I don't know."

"Oh, well now he has to come. I can cheer him up." Rose insisted. "He's the one that liked my garlic bread, right?"

"Right." Harper couldn't help but chuckle.

"I'll get started right now." Her grandma spoke. "And I'll see you in a few hours. I love you so much, sweet pea."

"And I love you too, grandma. See you soon."

Harper put her phone back into the pocket of the oversized jumper Stiles had let her borrow before unlocking the door and going back into Stiles' bedroom.

"Fancy dinner with my grandma?"

Stiles looked up from his laptop, raising his eyebrows. "Spaghetti?"

Harper nodded.

A grin spread across Stiles' face. "Hell yeah."


	18. Chapter 18

After three phone calls and a personal visit to the McCall household, Harper had managed to convince Scott to come along to her grandma's dinner. The werewolf had wanted to stay in bed and sulk about Allison all day, but Stiles and Harper hadn't allowed it, forcing him out of bed and into suitable clothing.

Since Melissa had gotten a ride to the hospital with one of her work friends that morning, the three teenagers had taken her car to Harper's house, blasting Harper's playlist through the crappy speakers.

For about ten minutes they felt like normal teenagers. They forgot that Scott was a werewolf, about the bite mark on Harper's shoulder, about the Alpha on the loose, and their 1000 other problems as they sang along to Paramore.

Once they had arrived, Rose had tackled all three teens into a massive group hug. They all accepted it, Scott and Stiles towering above the two girls, but Harper still the smallest as she was squashed into the middle of the circle.

"I'm so glad you idiots didn't die." Rose muttered before slapping Harper's arm, causing her to yelp. "That's for leaving the house without my permission, you silly girl."

"Sorry." Harper mumbled, looking at the ground.

She heard two more slaps and looked up to see Scott and Stiles holding their arms. "That's for almost dying." Rose glared at them both.

"Sorry." The two boys muttered back.

A grin suddenly crossed Rose's face. "Enough about yesterday. We're all okay now. I'm gonna go out the back and have a cigarette, one of you check on the pasta." She pulled her lighter out of the pocket of her dress and began to leave.

"Sorry she slapped you." Harper shrugged as they moved to the kitchen. She began to stir the pasta as her two best friends took a seat at the breakfast bar. "Can one of you get the plates out?"

Stiles did as Harper asked, going to the cupboard and pulling out five plates- one for the garlic bread which he could smell and see cooking in the oven. Rose came in a few minutes later and dished everything up before taking a seat next to Harper, across from Scott and Stiles.

"Tuck in, guys." She grinned.

Everyone began to eat, the boys each complimenting Rose on her cooking skills. Harper ate silently, listening to Rose as she told Scott and Stiles stories about back when she lived in England. The boys smiled and laughed and asked questions in all the right places and it filled Harper with a new warmth to see her favourite people all getting along so easily.

Rose suddenly gasped loudly causing Harper to visibly jump from beside her. "Has Harper ever told you about when she was coming to America?" She asked, grinning.

Harper's eyes widened. "You wouldn't." She stared at her grandma. "Grandma, no."

"Grandma, yes." Scott grinned, shooting a fake glare at Harper. Stiles laughed, nodding along from beside the werewolf.

Harper's grandma then continued to bully her granddaughter, telling her best friends about every single embarrassing moment in her life. About the time she accidentally stole something and cried for two hours, about how she broke her arm (both times), how she gave herself a haircut when she was seven.

So. Many. Stories.

While Stiles and Scott's faces were red from laughing, Harper's face was red from embarrassment. They had finished their dinners about five minutes but Rose was now telling them about Harper's first day at Beacon Hills Elementary school.

"Her parents, Oliver, and I were all so worried about her. But she came back beaming. She told us that she made two new best friends, better than her friends back home." Rose smiled fondly at the memory.

Harper smiled slightly too, remembering this more vividly than any of the other stories that her grandmother had told them.

Stiles was beaming. "Scott and I?" He guessed.

Rose chuckled. "Of course. She forgot all about her old friends and England as soon as she met you two." She sighed. "I wish you were all young again."

"I wish we were young again, too." Harper muttered, leaning her head against her hand as she rested her elbow on the table.

Her grandmother smacked it off. "No elbows at the dinner table." Rose told her before turning to Scott. "Now, what's this I hear about you being upset?"

The werewolf glared at Harper and Stiles who both shrunk in their seats. "Oh, my girlfriend and I are on a break." He mumbled, embarrassed.

Rose frowned. "By the look on your face I'm assuming it wasn't your idea." She sighed. "Well, she's a silly girl. You're a very good looking young man, Scott. Any girl would be lucky to have you."

Scott offered her a weak smile. "Thanks, Rose."

Rose dismissed it with the wave of a hand. "It's my job to make everybody feel better. It's what grandma's do. I'll date you if your girlfriend doesn't come around."

The three teenagers laughed at this. Rose was always joking about marrying Scott, she was very fond of him. She had been ever since he helped her make cookies when he was eleven and Stiles and Harper were ignoring him. He had been so cute, despite making a total mess of her kitchen.

Once everything was silent again, Rose stood up, coughing a little. "I'm going to wash the dishes. You three go in the living room and put on a movie or something." She began to stack the nearly-clean plates on top of each other.

"I can help." Harper offered, standing up as she grabbed a plate. "You're starting to sound wheezy again, grandma."

"Nonsence." Her grandma shook her head. "I'm perfectly fine, my dear. Now go have fun with your friends, you never know what's around the corner."

Harper gave Rose a sceptical look but was cut off when a sharp pain shot through her head. She stumbled back a little, right into Stiles' arms. Stiles frowned, holding onto her tightly. Scott's eyes widened and he quickly distracted Rose.

"You know what? I'm going to help you, Rose. I think I could do with a little more advice from you." Scott lied quickly, luckily sounding pretty convincing.

Rose smiled. "Sure. What do you want to talk about, love?"

Stiles dragged Harper away from the kitchen, pulling her up the stairs and into her bedroom. He closed the door and when he turned around Harper was gasping and holding her throat, her eyes shining with tears.

"Harper!" Stiles gasped, dashing forwards and holding her.

The Stilinski boy began to panic, frantically trying to help her, but she wouldn't respond. Before he could even yell for help, she had collasped, no longer wheezing or even moving.

"Oh, God!" Stiles cried, a few tears coming out as he quickly acted.

He laid her down and began to do compressions on her chest, just like how he had learned when his dad had forced him to go to first aid classes. His hands were shaking furiously and his heart was hammering in his chest as he looked down at Harper's lifeless body beneath him.

"Come on, Harper." He whispered as he tilted her head and pinched her nose.

Stiles took a deep breath before placing his mouth over hers, blowing straight into her mouth as firmly as he could. He checked her pulse but got nothing, so he did it again.

"No." Tears began to fall faster now as he went back to chest compressions. "Sco-"

Before he could yell for help, Harper's eyes suddenly snapped open and she was gasping for her breath, panting and panicking as she searched the room. When her eyes landed on Stiles she chocked out a sob before throwing her arms around him.

Stiles wrapped his arms back around her, holding her tighter than he ever had before, his face tucked in her neck as she continued to breathe heavily. He brushed her hair with his trembling hands, closing his eyes and taking in the fact that she was alive.

Harper had stopped breathing.

But now she was okay.

"What the hell happened?" Stiles forced himself to pull away as he searched her for any possible reason.

Harper pulled up the sleeve of her shirt. "I don't know, but it might have something to do with this."

The bite marks were gone.

...

"I had an amazing time, thank you, Rose." Scott gave the old woman a hug as he stood outside the door. He turned to Stiles. "Sure you don't want a ride home?"

Stiles shook his head but smiled slightly anyway. "I'm staying over for another hour. I'll call my dad to come and pick me up when I need to leave." He told him.

Scott nodded. "See you guys soon."

"Bye." They called after him, Rose closing the door before turning to face the two teenagers. "I am going to go and have another cigarette and then go to bed. Please don't stay up too late."

"We won't." Harper promised, wrapping her grandma in a hug. "Night, grandma."

"Night, Harper. Night, Stiles." She waved as she left.

Stiles waved back slightly. "Night."

Harper gently grabbed Stiles' hand and dragged him upstairs into her bedroom. She closed the door and flipped the fairy lights on, pulling him onto the bed next to her. Stiles was a little overwhelmed by how close he was to her, but he tried not to pay attention as she laid down.

He laid down in front of her, little to no room between them on the single bed.

"You saved my life." Harper whispered, holding his hand and playing with his fingers. "I- I would be dead without you."

Stiles closed his eyes, not wanting to think about what would have happened if he hadn't of been there for her. He was still extremely shaken up about it. Every time he would close his eyes for more than five seconds, he would see her lifeless body underneath him and he would feel the panic start to swell in his chest.

"I told you I would do anything for you." Stiles moved some of her hair out of her face. "Seeing you like that..." He shook his head. "Made me feel so helpless. I had no clue what was going on, all I knew was that if I didn't so something then you would be gone."

"I'm so grateful, Stiles." Harper mumbled. "I owe you everything."

Stiles shook his head. "You owe me nothing. You would have done the same thing for me." His voice was so soft that it was like music to her ears.

"I would. A million times."

Stiles' eyes lifted from where he was looking at their intertwined hands to her brown eyes. She was staring straight back at him. His eyes flickered to her lips and then back to her eyes. He saw her look down at his lips too, a feeling of excitement and nervousness filling him.

He made the first move- inching his head forwards a little. Harper did the same, both their hearts beating a million beats per second. Stiles moved his hand to cup her face before their lips were only a couple of centimetres apart.

"Kiss me." She whispered.

Harper didn't need to tell Stiles twice.

His lips were then on hers, faintly, but they were still there. It was both their first kisses, and neither knew what to do, so Stiles took the lead. He kissed her a little deeper, feeling more confident as she slowly began to kiss back, her hands moving to his shoulders.

Stiles sat up, taking Harper with him as he moved one of his large hands to her waist. Their eyes had flickered shut a long time ago. Their kiss was slow but passionate, showing just how much they cared about each other.

It was as if Harper could feel every single emotion that Stiles was feeling- nervous but confident, lust, happiness, content... love.

They pulled away a few seconds later, both panting slightly, blushes quickly coating their cheeks as Harper looked down at her hands, playing with them nervously. Stiles lifted her chin up with his fingers, a new-found confidence filling him.

"Was-was that okay?" He asked sweetly, his voice barely above a murmur.

Harper smiled slightly. "It was perfect." She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "Was... was it okay for you?"

Stiles cleared his throat awkwardly. "Oh, it was cool." He nervously blurted.

"Cool?" Harper repeated, a little hurt.

Sensing his mistake, Stiles quickly shook his head, eyes wide. "No! I meant, um, I meant amazing. Beautiful. Incredible. More than I could have ever dreamed. It was perfect."

Harper grinned, blushing. "So..."

"So," Stiles smiled back knowingly. "Do you... do you want to be my girlfriend?"

Biting her bottom lip, she nodded quickly before throwing her arms around him. "Of course."

His heart was beating quick as he held her back. "Really?" He asked doubtfully. "I mean, are you sure?"

Harper pulled away. "I am so sure. I've been sure for the past few weeks." She admitted softly.

Stiles' eyes widened. "You've liked me for the past few weeks?"

The brunette nodded. "Yes," she grabbed his hand and laid back down, gently taking him back down with her so she was resting on his chest. "How long have you liked me?"

Stiles suddenly became more awkward, scratching the back of his neck. "Oh, um, only the past six or so years." He hesitated to answer, worried that she would think he was weird and immediately break up with him.

Harper gasped. "Since I moved here?" She flipped herself over so she was looking him right in the eye, her body on top of his.

Stiles nodded. "You don't think that's... weird?"

Harper shook her head quickly. "No. I think it's adorable, actually. The sweetest thing I've ever heard." She placed a quick kiss on his lips.

"Whoa." His eyes widened. "It's going to take me a while to get used to that."

They both chuckled and Harper's head fell into his chest, closing her eyes. She listened to the steady beat of his heart, the rhythmic sound slowly putting her to sleep.

Stiles looked down at her contently, feeling completely satisfied. Harper Verum was his girlfriend. Harper Verum liked him back. Harper Verum had kissed him. Twice. Harper Verum was sleeping on his chest.

He couldn't wait to tell Scott.

...

"I feel bad." Harper sighed as the credits to yet another movie came up on the screen.

Stiles furrowed his eyebrows together, confused. "Why?" He looked across at the brunette lying next to him, deeply confused.

It was such a random statement to make after watching Lilo and Stitch managed to convince her new boyfriend to watch Disney movies with her all day and he couldn't say no when she gave him her puppy eyes.

Harper just sighed again. "Because Allison broke up with Scott literally two days ago and we got together like twenty four hours later. Scott is probably at home heartbroken and we've just been lying around all weekend being all couple-like. We're such bad friends."

Stiles frowned, nodding. "Maybe we shouldn't rub our relationship in his face tomorrow. Not until he's over Allison."

Harper agreed. "Yeah. We should do something with him tonight. Something fun."

Stiles suddenly grinned. "I have the perfect idea."


	19. Chapter 19

Stiles' plan had landed them in the picnic area of Beacon Hills Preserve, Scott sitting on top of a rock with Harper leaning against it and Stiles lying on the ground on his back. Harper closed eyes, too drunk to care that a particularly sharp part of the rock was digging into her back.

The sun had set hours ago, leaving them in a dark blanket filled with stars. It was cold out, so Harper was sporting Stiles' lacrosse hoodie from his freshman year that he had given her and a pair of black skinny jeans.

A fire burned from beside them inside a bin, its flames reaching high up and providing some warmth for the cold teenagers. The bonfire smoky smell filled Harper's nostrils. She liked it- it reminded her of Guy Fawkes Night.

"Dude, you know, she's just one girl... One girl." Stiles slurred, his head resting on the uneven ground as he tried to comfort Scott. "There are so many other girls in the sea."

Harper giggled loudly. "I think you mean fish, Sti." She hiccupped.

"Fish?" Stiles repeated, confused. "Why are you talking about fish? I'm talking about girls." He exhaled dramatically. "I love girls. I love them. I love... Especially ones with honey brown hair, brown eyes, 5'1"..."

Scott rolled his eyes when he saw Harper not paying any attention. She was just poking at the hole in her skinny jeans, oddly entertained by it in her drunken state. To say she was ditzy when under the influence of alcohol would be an understatement.

"You mean like Harper?" Scott dead-panned, raising his dark eyebrows.

The werewolf had had a few sips, gulps even, of the Jack Daniels that Stiles had stolen from his dad's alcohol cabinet, but he wasn't anywhere near drunk. He wasn't even tipsy.

"Yeah, exactly." Stiles confirmed. "How did you know I was talking about..." He trailed off. "About... What was I talking about?"

He grinned, but his smile faltered when he saw Scott's depressed state. "Hey, you're not happy." Stiles slapped Scott's leg.

Harper lifted up the Jack Daniels bottle from beside her, holding it above her head. "Take a drink." She insisted happily.

Scott just glanced at the girl and shook his head. "I don't want anymore." His voice was void from any emotion.

The brunette shrugged, putting the bottle back down between her and Stiles. "You're not drunk?" She asked.

Again, Scott shook his head. "I'm not anything."

"Hey, maybe it's like... maybe it's like not needing your inhaler anymore, you know." Harper's voice picked up a few pitches as she began to explain her theory. "Maybe you can't get drunk as a wolf."

Harper's face suddenly twisted. "Am I drunk?" She questioned, her voice dragging out as she slurred.

Scott glanced at them both for about a second. "You're both wasted."

"Yeah!" Stiles beamed, fist bumping the air weakly.

Upon seeing the distressed look on Scott's face, Stiles sighed. "Oh, come on, dude. I know it feels bad. I know. Well, I don't know." He chuckled. "But I know this. I know that, as much as being broken up hurts, being alone is way worse."

Scott's eyebrows furrowed together and he looked at his friend, genuinely concerned for him. Harper went deep into concentration- repeating the words in her head until she could see what was wrong with them. When she did, she snorted loudly.

Stiles just chuckled again. "That didn't make any sense." He laughed. "I need a drink."

Just as Stiles went to grab the bottle of Jack Daniels, an unwelcomed hand gripped the neck of the glass, pulling it away from him. Scott's head snapped in their direction and Harper and Stiles quickly sat up.

"Well, look at the two little bitches and their slut getting their drink on." The voice belonged to a large scary-looking man, probably in his late twenties. Another man stood behind him.

"Give it back." Scott ordered.

The man with the bottle frowned. "What's that, little man?" He sneered.

The one behind him finally spoke up. "I think he wants a drink." He snickered.

Scott, however, didn't laugh. "I want the bottle." The werewolf corrected.

Stiles gulped. "Scott, maybe we should just go."

Harper remained silent beside him, not keeping her eyes off of them. She would be lying if she said she wasn't scared. They were in the middle of nowhere and her and Stiles were hammered. Every single bad scenario was rushing through her head.

"You two brought me here to get me drunk, Stiles." Scott defended before pausing for a couple of seconds. "I'm not drunk yet."

The two men just scoffed as if Scott was talking rubbish. The man with the bottle raised it to his lips and took a large swig.

Scott slowly climbed off of the rock and moved to stand in front of him. Harper couldn't help but notice how much larger the other man was compared to Scott. Even though Scott was 5'10" and muscular, this man made him look tiny.

"Give me the bottle." Scott warned, not avoiding eye contact.

He just scoffed, shaking his head as a smirk crossed his lips. He was clearly daring Scott, and Harper knew that this wasn't a good idea. Scott glared at the man, showing off his wolf eyes.

"Give me the bottle of Jack." Scott's voice was distorted as his yellow eyes glowed in the dark.

Harper noticed his claws growing from behind his back. "Scott?" Harper worried.

The man slowly began to hand back the bottle, fear etched on his face. The werewolf yanked it out of his hands harshly before swinging it over their heads. It slammed into one of the trees and smashed loudly into thousands of pieces.

Harper had never seen two men run quicker.

...

"Okay, please tell me that was because of the break up." Stiles had managed to sober up slightly as he began to walk after Scott who was storming ahead.

Harper was following close behind, almost tripping every few seconds. Every time she did she would giggle loudly and Stiles would turn around to make sure she hadn't collapsed. He himself wasn't in a state to let her lean on him, but he would if he could.

"Or 'cause tomorrow's the full moon?" Stiles suggested, the cold making his breath look like icy wisps in the air.

Scott didn't say anything or turned around. He went towards the jeep and opened the door. Stiles grabbed a hold of Harper as he turned around to face Scott from where he was leaning against the car.

"Going home now, yeah?" Stiles mumbled.

Scott nodded, not paying any attention to how close his two best friends were being. He figured it was because they were both drunk and he knew they both had crushes on each other.

...

"It's just weird. Everybody's talking about what happened the other night, and nobody knows it was us." Allison pointed out as the three girls left their history class.

Lydia just scoffed from beside Allison. "Thank you for the protection of minors."

Harper just hummed, her head still aching. She'd woken up with the worst hangover she had ever had in her entire sixteen years of existence. Sure, she had only ever had one hangover before that, but it still counts.

"Harper, Lydia, do you think I made the wrong decision?" Allison pondered as she carried on walking down the hallway, avoiding all of the moving teenagers.

The strawberry blonde scanned Allison's outfit. "About that jacket with that dress?" She huffed. "Absolutely."

Allison just laughed and shook her head in disbelief. "You know what I mean."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Hello? Scott locked us in that classroom and left us for dead. He's lucky we're not pressing charges or making him pay our therapy bills."

The shortest of the girls couldn't believe what she was hearing. Did Lydia and Allison really think that? That Scott would just leave them all for dead? He was doing the exact opposite. He had been protecting them.

She felt defensive over her best friend.

Harper's dark brows knitted together. "He didn't leave us for dead. Scott wouldn't-"

Lydia cut her off. "You know what Harper? Where were you this weekend? Hmm? Oh, that's right. With Scott and Stiles. Not us. Of course you're biased."

The short brunette's face fell. "But Lydia-"

The Queen Bee just laughed mockingly, shaking her head. "Save it. You've been acting weird lately. And you just happened to turn up at the school on Wednesday. Anything to say for yourself?"

A rush of confidence surged through Harper.

"Other than, 'fuck off'? Not really." And with that, she waltzed away.

...

Harper walked to her exam, completely ignoring Allison as she walked up to her desk. She took one next to Stiles who was sat behind Scott. She sent him a small smile before sitting down and putting her bag on the floor. She took out a pencil and a pen as Harris began to talk.

"You have forty-five minutes to complete the test." He instructed, his monotone voice carrying out around the room. "Twenty-five percent of your grade can be earned right now simply by writing your name on the cover of the blue book. However, as happens every year, one of you will inexplicably fail to put your name on the cover, and I'll be left yet again questioning my decision to ever become a teacher. So, let's get the disappointment over with. Begin."

Harris started a stopwatch and Harper immediately wrote her name on the cover and flipped the first page. A sudden feeling of dread caused her stomach to drop. Anxiety radiated off of her as she stared at the first question.

She knew it.

So why did she feel like she was about to have a panic attack?

Harper looked around the room, seeing other students anxiously tapping their pencils on the edge of their tables, biting their lips or messing with their hair as they stared down at the pages in front of them.

Gulping, Harper circled the correct question and carried on, but that feeling of absolute dread wouldn't leave her. Her palms were sweaty and her heart was pounding out of her chest.

Her head snapped up when Scott suddenly picked up his bag and darted out of the room. Harper and Stiles shared worried glances as Mr Harris called after him. Stiles sent Harper a look and quickly went after him.

"Mr Stilinski!" Harris snapped before quickly turning to look at Harper. "If you leave this room I will have to shred up your test paper and give you an after school detention for a week."

Harper huffed, sinking in her chair as she looked back down at her test paper, circling the answer to the second question. But she still worried about her best friend.

...

Coach Finstock's whistled throughout the boys locker rooms, stinging in Stiles' ears as he took a seat next to Scott on the bench in the middle of the room. He hadn't seen Scott smile once today- he was still bummed about his break up with Allison.

"Okay, geniuses, listen up. Due to the recent pinkeye epidemic, thank you, Greenberg, the following people have made first line on a probationary basis emphasis on the word 'probationary'." Finstock announced. "Rodriguez."

There was a scattered applause throughout the locker room, some teammates happy for Rodriguez while others simply didn't care or were jealous. Stiles clapped anyway.

"Welcome to first line." Finstock muttered. "Taylor, and..."

The Stilinski boy sat up, eager to find out what was on the rest of his list. He prayed that it was him. The only things Stiles had wanted for high school were Harper Verum and to play first line in lacrosse. He already, somehow, had one of those things.

"For the love of crap." Coach sighed. "I can't even read my own writing. What is that, an 'S'?"

Stiles perked up even more, playing with his hands nervously.

"No, no, that's not an 'S'."

His face fell and he rolled his eyes. Of course.

"That's a... that's a 'B'. It's definitely a 'B'." Coach Finstock paused to look around the room. "Uh, Rodriguez, Taylor, and... Bilinski."

Stiles' head shot up, his eyes wide as he sucked in a breath. He climbed up off of the bench and began to whoop loudly, his arms failing about like a madman. He yelled happily while the other lacrosse players just stared at him. Scott didn't even look up.

"Bilinski!" Coach warned.

"Yes?" The smile didn't leave the teenage boys' face.

"Shut up!"

Players began to chuckle and Stiles' smile faltered. "Yes, sir." He replied confidently, sitting back down.

"Stiles." Scott whispered from next to him.

Stiles shook his head. "It's Biles. Call me Biles, or I swear to God I will kill you." He threatened before turning back to face Coach.

"Another thing." Coach read from the paper on the clipboard in his hands. "From here on out, immediately, we're switching co-captains. Congratulations, McCall."

Stiles looked back at his best friend and grinned in amazement while Jackson shared looks of disapproval with Danny and another lacrosse player. Scott couldn't even bring himself to smile.

"What?" The star athlete spat, taking a step closer towards Coach Finstock.

"What do you mean, what? Jackson, this takes nothing away from you. This is about combining separate strengths into one unit. This is about taking your unit, McCall's unit, we're making one big unit." He turned to face Scott. "McCall, it's you and Jackson now. Everybody else..."

He blew the whistle again. "Asses on the field! Asses on the field!" He yelled.

Everybody scattered out of the door and Stiles picked up his lacrosse stick, quickly following after the werewolf excitedly.

"Dude, can you believe this?" Stiles sighed happily. "You're captain, I'm first line." He chuckled. "I'm first freaking line!"

...

"Are you not freaking out? I'm freaking out." Stiles couldn't wrap his head over the fact that he had made first line. He couldn't wait to tell Harper.

"What's the point? It's just a stupid title." Scott disagreed, much to Stiles' dismay. "And I could practically smell the jealousy in there."

Stiles put a hand on Scott's shoulder, stopping them in their tracks. "Wait, you smell jealousy?" He asked in complete disbelief.

The werewolf nodded. "Yeah, it's like full moon's turned everything up to ten." He mumbled.

Stiles hummed, thinking things over. "Can you pick up on stuff like, I don't know, desire?" He sighed deeply.

Scott frowned. "What do you mean, desire?"

"Like sexual desire?"

Scott's eyebrows raised. "Sexual desire?" He repeated in amusement.

"Yeah, sexual desire." Stiles confirmed, frustrated. "Lust, passion, arousal." He rolled his 'R'.

Scott smirked slightly. "From Harper?"

Stiles was too quick to reply. "What? No, in a general, broad sense. Can you determine sexual desire?" He kept his voice low.

"From Harper to you?" Scott dead-panned.

Stiles suddenly snapped. "Fine, yes, from Harper to me. Look, I need to know if..." He remembered how he and Harper had agreed to not tell Scott yet. "If she likes me. If I have a chance with her. I've been obsessing over her since she freaking moved here."

Stiles wanted to know how much Harper really cared about him, and if Scott could reassure him with facts, then he would be completely satisfied.

"Why don't you just ask her?" The shaggy haired boy asked.

Stiles' eye twitched. "Well, to save myself utterly crushing humiliation. Thank you, Scott." He paused. "Okay? So, please, can you just go up and ask if she likes me? See if her heartbeat rises, or pheromones come out."

"Fine." Scott finally sighed, walking away to find their best friend.

Stiles' mouth hung open. "I love you." He blurted. "I love you. You're my best friend in the whole world."

...

Scott found Harper a couple of minutes later talking to a girl with blonde, scruffy hair and glasses. The girl was wearing jogging bottoms and oversized t-shirt. Scott remembered that she had a seizure once in class, but he couldn't remember her name.

He knew that Harper had slept around her house a couple of times and Harper did her eyebrows for her once. He only remember that because Harper had used the tweezers on the two boys afterwards.

He moved towards them and Harper automatically looked up, smiling at her best friend. "Hey, Scotty." She chirped.

"Hey." He nodded at the girl who smiled shyly before leaving.

"See you in maths, Erica." Harper called, waving.

"Can we talk for a second?" Scott asked, scratching the back of his neck.

Harper frowned, immediately thinking the worse. "Of course. You okay?"

Scott pulled her into a classroom and shut the door. She leaned against the teachers desk. "Is this about why you ran out of the exam?" She asked gently. "You needed someone to talk to? Stiles and I are here for you, Scott."

"Just I needed to ask you something." Scott placed his lacrosse stick down on the table and stood in front of her. "Do you... Do you know if Allison still likes me?"

The brunette sighed, "of course she still likes you, Scotty."

"Really?" A small smile took place on his face for the first time that day.

"She'll always like you." She hated giving him false hope. "But, maybe just as friends for now, yeah? It sounded to me as if she needed her distance this morning. She think you locked her in there to leave her for dead. She's not..." Harper tried to think of the right word. "Grateful."

Scott looked up at her, a look in his eyes that Harper didn't yet understand. "Are you grateful?" His voice was lower than normal.

Harper's eyebrows raised. "Of course I'm grateful, Scott." She paused for a moment. "I need to tell you something about the bi-"

She was cut off by a pair of lips on her own, shocking her. Harper's entire boy felt like it had froze over in shock as she remained as still as a statue, not knowing how to react to her best friends' lips on hers. It took her a couple of seconds to build up the courage to shove him off of her.

"Scott!" Harper glared at him. "What the actual hell were you thinking?"

"You said you were grateful." He grumbled.

"I am! So, so, so grateful. But I don't like you like that, Scott! And you like Allison! I like Stiles. So never, ever kiss me again, okay?" She ran a hand through her hair. "And don't tell Stiles."

Scott stared at her. "Stiles wouldn't care." He dead-panned. "Because Stiles doesn't like you like that. Or at all. In fact, nobody likes you, Harper. Maybe you should get the next plane ticket back to England, since nobody wants you here."


	20. Chapter 20

Harper left the classroom in tears, her mascara creating dark circles around her eyes as she kept her head down, praying nobody would notice that she was crying. Most of her fingertips were stained with the black makeup, her hands shaking as she sniffled loudly.

"Harper?" A familiar voice came from next to the lockers. "Harper, are you crying?"

Harper ignored the strawberry blonde, dashing forwards and into the girls bathroom. When she noticed nobody was inside she began to sob loudly, not being able to hold it in anymore. She slid down the wall and cried her heart out, her chest hurting so much from all of the emotions that she was feeling.

She was so overwhelmed.

Between the bite, Stiles liking her back, the way she felt in chemistry, her massive headache, Lydia and Allison, her grandma being sick, Derek being dead, the Alpha on the loose, Scott kissing her, and what he had told her, she felt sick.

She wanted to cry, but at the same time she didn't.

The door to the bathroom opened and Harper's head snapped up to see a concerned Lydia Martin stood there. Her face fell further when she saw the state that the brunette was in, instantly forgetting how she was annoyed at her.

"Go away, please." Harper mumbled, more tears falling as she hiccupped.

Lydia raised her eyebrows before locking the door to the bathroom. "If you think I'm leaving you in this state then you are so wrong, Harper Verum." She shook her head. "Now tell me what's wrong."

Harper looked up at Lydia and bit her lip, a sniffle escaping her. "I just... I don't know." She lied.

Of course Harper couldn't tell her much, since almost everything seemed to link back to the Alpha. She decided to tell her what she could.

"My grandma's really sick, I'm scared that you and Allison hate me now, and..."

"And?" Lydia quizzed.

Harper's bottom lip quivered. "Scott kissed me."

Lydia's green eyes widened. "You can't go out with Allison's ex. That's like... totally slutty."

Harper glared at her. "He kissed me! And I have a boyfriend, anyway!"

Lydia smirked slightly. "And who is this boyfriend that I, for some reason, do not know about?"

"Stiles."

"You said you two weren't dating."

"It's a recent thing." Harper mumbled, looking down. "But I don't know what to do. Scott, Stiles, and I are best friends and if Stiles finds out he will be torn. What if he hates me? Or Scott?"

Lydia pulled a smaller bag out of the bag over her shoulder. "You know what I think?" She pulled out some concealer and mascara. "I think you need to get a grip, girly. Your grandma will be okay, Allison and I don't hate you, and I'm pretty sure you could stab Stiles and he would thank you."

Harper sniffled, giggling a little bit. "You think?"

Lydia shook her head. "I know so." She passed the shorter girl a wipe. "Get rid of your eye makeup and redo it. We have a lacrosse game to get to."

☹☻

Harper and Lydia made it onto the field and saw a bunch of lacrosse players crowding around someone. The brunette didn't see Stiles sat on the bench as usual and immediately worried, following Lydia as she rushed over to stand next to Jackson.

Harper was relieved, as mean as that sounds, when she saw Danny on the ground and not Stiles. He had a bloody nose and one of the paramedics was shining a light in his eyes. Danny most likely had a concussion.

"Is he okay?" Lydia asked worriedly.

Jackson sighed. "Yeah, it looks like he just has a bloody nose..."

He looked over at Harper and tapped his own bottom lip. "Your lipstick."

Harper's eyes widened and Lydia whirled around to face her. She pulled out a mirror and Lydia began to help her get rid of it.

"Oops. Wonder how that happened." Harper spoke, mentally cringing at how unconvincing she sounded out loud.

The brunette looked up from the mirror just in time to see Stiles turn away from her. Her heart shattered there and then.

He knew.

☹☻

"Stiles! Stiles!" Harper called as she chased after him in the car park, tears stinging her eyes. "I know you can hear me, Sti! Please!"

Stiles whirled around, his own eyes teary as he stared down at her. "What do you want to tell me, Harper? That it will never happen again? That it was a mistake? Or do you want to end it all together? Were you with me to make Scott jealous, was that it?"

"Stiles, I-" A tear slipped.

The boy with the buzz cut laughed dryly. "Three days. It took you three days to get bored of me and kiss our best friend. Do you... Do you know how much that hurts?" 

"I didn't kiss him!" Harper chocked back her tears. At this point she didn't care about throwing Scott under the bus anymore, she need Stiles to know the truth. "He kissed me, Sti. I pushed him off, I swear- I swear I did!"

Stiles shook his head and Harper sniffled. "Please, Sti. You've got to believe me. He dragged me into a classroom and asked me about Allison and then he just kissed me!"

They both just stared at each other for a few seconds. Harper felt like she was crumbling under his gaze. She wondered if their relationship was even meant to be if they were fighting on their third day of being together.

"Do you promise?" His voice broke a little at the end.

Harper's heart ached. "I pinkie swear." She held up her pinkie finger, connecting it with his. "He told me that you didn't like me, and that I should just leave. He was angry that I didn't kiss him back. I don't know if it's the full moon or-"

Stiles grabbed Harper's hands, forcing her to look at him. "I like you, okay? A lot. Whatever he told you was complete crap, alright? And I'm going to kill him for kissing you." His voice shook slightly with anger.

He felt so betrayed. Scott was meant to ask her if she liked him, not go and make out with his girlfriend.

☹☻

That evening, Stiles and Harper drove over the McCall household, as much as Harper didn't want to, she knew she had to help. She was one of the only three people that knew about Scott's secret, and one of them was dead. It would be somewhat selfish to leave it all to Stiles to help Scott on the full moon.

"Scott?" Melissa McCall called as Stiles unlocked their front door, closing the door behind Harper as she came in behind him.

Melissa came around the corner wearing her purple nurse uniform, her dark, curly hair tied back into a loose pony tail and her bag over her shoulder. She looked like she was ready to go out to work.

"Stiles and Harper." Stiles corrected awkwardly, the two teenagers smiling like they had just been caught going through her cookie jar.

"Key!" She acknowledged a house key identical to her own in Stiles' hand.

Stiles lifted it up. "Yeah. I had one made, so..."

"That doesn't surprise me." Ms McCall spoke calmly. "It scares me, but it doesn't surprise me."

As if on cue, Stiles dropped the large black bag that he had been carrying onto the wooden floor beneath him, the noise echoing throughout the McCall house. Melissa looked down at it and raised her eyebrows.

"What is that?" She asked slowly, looking at Harper for the answer.

Harper became flustered, her cheeks tinting red a little. "Oh, um, school project."

Stiles nodded along, smiling.

"Harper, Stiles, he's okay, right?" Melissa asked more seriously.

"Who? Scott? Yeah. Totally." Stiles scoffed convincingly. Harper watched sadly from beside him, the look on Melissa's face making her heart hurt.

"He just doesn't talk to me that much anymore, not like he used to." The older woman shook her head.

Harper gulped. "Well, he's not had that good of a week, y'know? Allison, and that..."

Melissa sighed. "Yeah, yeah. I get it. Yeah." She didn't sound very convinced but she left it at that. "Um, okay. Be careful tonight."

"You, too." Stiles and Harper replied in unison.

"Full moon." Melissa remarked as she began to search her bag for her keys.

"What?" The two teenagers both chocked, wondering what on earth she meant by that. Did she know about werewolves? Scott hadn't told her... right?

"There's a full moon tonight." Melissa clarified, chuckling. "You should see how the ER gets. Brings out all the nut jobs."

They both sighed in relief and Stiles chuckled nervously. "Oh, yeah." He rolled his eyes at himself.

"You know, it's actually where they came up with the word 'lunatic'." She patted both their arms before leaving, gently closing the front door behind her.

☹☻

Stiles opened the door to Scott's bedroom and dumped the bag inside before flickering the light on. He and Harper both walked inside, jumping at the sight of Scott sat in his arm chair in the corner of the room, glaring at them both like he was about to kill them.

"Oh, my God!" Stiles gasped, dropping the bag right after he had picked it up again. "Dude. You scared the hell out of me. Your mum said you weren't home yet."

Scott stared right at Harper as he spoke. "I came in through the window." His voice was low and filled with such intensity that it sent shivers down the teenage girls spine. She hated the way he was looking at her.

"Okay." Stiles spoke as if he was crazy, which maybe he was. "Uh, well, let's get this set up. I want you to see what I bought."

"I'm fine."

Stiles looked up from where he was rummaging through the black bag.

"I'm just gonna lock the door and go to bed early tonight." Scott spoke, no emotion whatsoever in his voice.

"You sure about that? 'Cause you've got this kind of serial killer look going on in your eyes, and I'm hoping it's the full moon taking effect, 'cause it's really starting to freak me out." Stiles asked weakly, making strange hand gestures.

"I'm fine." Scott insisted darkly.

Harper didn't say anything. She didn't even want to look at him.

"You should go now."

Stiles' eyes flickered to the bag and then back to Scott. "All right, I'll leave." He began. "Well, look, would you just at least look into the bag and see what I bought? You know, maybe you use it, maybe you don't. Sound good?"

Scott stared at him for a few seconds before slowly climbing out of the seat and crouching down in front of the bag. He tore his eyes off of Harper and Stiles to look in the bag, pulling out some large chains.

"You think I'm gonna let you put these on and chain me up like a dog?" He spat, though he was eerily calm as he let them drop back into the bag.

Harper's heart pounded with anxiety as she watched Stiles talk. "Actually, no." The Stilinski boy quickly grabbed a pair of hand cuffs and put one around Scott's wrist, tugging him to the radiator and hand cuffing him there in only two seconds.

Scott grunted loudly. "What the hell are you doing?" He yelled, pulling against the hand cuffs.

Stiles was panting slightly as he took a few steps backwards, standing next to Harper. "Protecting you from yourself and giving you some payback."

The werewolf looked up at him in a mixture of confusion and anger.

"For making out with my girlfriend." Stiles spat, glaring at him.

☹☻

Harper sat out in the hallway, watching Scott through the door while Stiles went to go and get him some water. It had been about half an hour and Scott had give up ten minutes ago, slumping against the radiator and choosing to just glaring at them both.

"I brought you some water." Stiles announced, holding up a bottle and then a dog bowl that had 'SCOTT' written on it.

He poured the water inside it before putting it down in front of Scott. Stiles began walking back to Harper when the bowl was thrown at his back, the little water getting his waterproof jacket.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Scott growled.

Stiles paused, turning around. "You kissed her, Scott, okay? You kissed Harper. That's, like, the one girl that I... You know how much I like her! My..." He began to yell but calmed down a little bit. "And, you know, for the past three hours, I've been thinking, it's probably just the full moon, you know, he doesn't even know what he's doing, and tomorrow, he'll be totally back to normal. He probably won't even remember what a complete dumbass he's been. A son of a bitch, a freaking unbelievable piece of crap friend."

"She kissed me." Scott muttered lowly.

Harper's heart dropped and Stiles froze. "What?" His voice broke.

"I didn't kiss her. She kissed me." Scott smirked.

Stiles came out into the hallway and sat on the other side of Harper, staring at her with tears in his eyes. Harper scrambled forwards, her hands trembling as she grabbed his face and forced him to look at her.

"He's lying, Sti. Okay? He's trying to get to you." Harper stroked his cheeks with the pads of his thumbs. "Please don't listen to him." She whispered.

"I know, I know." Stiles mumbled, grabbing her dainty hands in his large ones, squeezing them.

"You're a liar, Harper!" Scott yelled from his bedroom. She squeezed her eyes shut. "You would have done a lot more, too! I know it and you know it. You had your hands all over me! You would have done anything I wanted. Anything!"

Scott continued to grunt as he pulled against the hand cuffs, his wrists bleeding. "Stiles, Harper, please let me out." His voice came out soft. "It's starting to hurt. It's not like the first time. It's the full moon, I swear. You know I wouldn't do any of this on purpose. It's Allison breaking up with me. I know that it's not just taking a break. She broke up with me."

Harper and Stiles both tried to ignore him, Harper sat in between Stiles legs as she played with his hands while he rubbed soothing circles on her back. The hazel eyed boy closed his eyes for a few seconds, attempting to block Scott out as much as he could.

There was a short silence.

"And it's killing me." He spoke through gritted teeth. "I feel completely hopeless. Just, please, let me out."

"I can't." Stiles finally muttered.

Scott began to struggle, suddenly breathing heavy. "No, no, no!" It sounded like was panicking and Harper could feel herself start to panic. He grunted before screaming out loudly.

Harper felt sick. It wasn't normal to feel this amount of emotion and she was starting to breath heavily, her heart pounding out of her chest as she withered in Stiles' arms. Stiles held her, confused as to why his girlfriend was acting like this.

Scott's screaming wouldn't stop. Harper suddenly felt a searing pain in her wrist and she let out a sob, feeling frustration and panic and anger flood through her. She began to move spastically in Stiles' arms.

Stiles reacted quickly, eyes wide. "What's going on?" He panicked as she closed her eyes, whimpering and grabbing her wrist.

Harper then began to yell just like Scott, pushing Stiles away from her as she curled up into a ball and let out all of the emotions overwhelming her.

Silence suddenly came from Scott's room after a loud growl and Harper suddenly didn't feel anything anymore. She sagged against the ground, breathing heavily as she sat up. Stiles watched her, concerned.

"What the hell just happened?" He raised his eyebrows.

"It's like..." She looked down at her wrist which was covered in blood.

They both stared at it for a moment, not knowing what to say.

"You could feel everything that Scott was feeling..." Stiles finished for her.


	21. Chapter 21

Harper turned down the volume on her head phones when she heard a two knocks come from her bedroom door. She slid them off of her head so they were around her neck as she paused the show she was watching on Netflix.

"Come in." Harper replied, assuming that it was just her grandma.

When the door opened to reveal Scott, she was more than surprised. She closed her laptop and sat up on her bed, staring at him anxiously as he stood awkwardly in the door frame. He ran a hand through his hair, frowning.

"I'm sorry." Scott mumbled. "It really was the full moon last night. I-I didn't know what came over me, what I was thinking or doing... All those things I said, I didn't mean. I promise. You're my best friend, Harper... and I really hope you're not mad at me."

Harper sighed, "I was never mad, just upset."

The werewolf's face fell. "I never want to make you sad, Harper. I'm sorry for kissing you and saying those things."

Harper forced a light smile. "Apology accepted, McCall."

"Stiles isn't mad at you, is he? He said that you were his girlfriend last night... Holy crap I kissed his girlfriend! I kissed my best friend and my best friend's girlfriend! I am officially the biggest douche ever..." Scott's head fell into his hands as he came to the realisation.

The petite brunette shook her head. "Shut up, Scott. You're not a douche and Stiles isn't mad at me. He might be mad at you though..."

Scott chuckled dryly. "Oh he is. You should have heard my voicemails this morning. He described how he's going to kill me down to the last detail."

Harper just winced.

"Why didn't you guys tell me you were dating anyway?" He asked casually as he jumped onto Harper's bed, lying down while she sat beside him cross-legged. "And how long?"

Harper blushed. "Since Friday night. We didn't tell you because Allison had just, um, broken up with you and we didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable."

Scott raised his eyebrows. "That's... really sweet." His face softened. "Now I feel worse for everything."

"Don't." Harper whined, flicking his arm. "It's over now. Stiles will get over it soon, and then everything will go back to normal."

Scott just hummed in response before they sat/lay there in silence for a minute. It was a comfortable silence, the two of them just enjoying each other's company when Archie, Harper's cat, jumped up on the bed, accidentally landing straight on Scott's stomach.

The shaggy haired boy winced, letting out a grunt as Archie curled up into a ginger ball on top of him. Harper giggled, pulling out her phone and taking a quick picture of them together. She considered sending it to Stiles with a few laughing emojis, but she was afraid that that would only make him even more mad at Scott.

After all, if a girl had kissed Stiles and then Stiles sent Harper a picture of the girl on his bed the next day then she wouldn't be happy either, no matter how close they were. Harper put her phone down and pulled her laptop onto her stomach, laying down beside the werewolf.

"What were you watching?" Scott asked as she stroked the chubby cat's face.

It purred loudly at Harper replied, "Gossip Girl. But I'm only on the third episode and it's really slow. Wanna watch something else?"

Scott nodded. "How about Stranger Things? I never got past the second episode."

"Sure."

...

Harper squeezed her eyes shut as Scott picked up the speed on the car, going much too fast for her liking. Stiles, who was sat in the passenger seat, disagreed. He kept ordering Scott to go quicker as Kate Argent chased after them in her own car.

In case you don't know, Kate Argent is the auntie of Allison Argent and the sister of Chris Argent, which means she is a werewolf hunter, and from they way she was driving after the three teenagers, a pretty passionate one, too.

The hunter thought that they were Derek, since they were driving his car. They were trying to get her off of his lead, since it turns out he is actually alive.

"Faster?" Scott called over the noise of tyres screeching as he turned a sharp corner, Kate close on his trail.

Stiles looked behind him, seeing how close Kate was. "Much faster." He instructed.

Scott hesitated for a second before slamming his foot down, the engine revving loudly as he sped down the deserted road. Harper clenched her jumper in her hands, feeling herself become more uneasy as she turned around.

She had a weird feeling, and she had no clue what it meant.

"Hey, Scott, I don't think you're really grasping the concept of the car chase here." Stiles muttered, his head turning every few seconds to look behind.

"If I go faster, I'll kill us." Scott raised his voice, frustrated. He didn't keep his eyes off of the road.

"Well, if you don't go faster, they're gonna kill us!" Stiles yelled, also becoming frustrated with Scott.

"She knows!" Harper suddenly realised. "She knows that we're not Derek!"

Stiles' eyebrows furrowed together. "How do you-" Seconds later Kate began to drive away, leaving both boys dumbfounded. "How did you know that?!"

"I don't- I don't know." Harper muttered, also confused.

Stiles reached down for the walkie talkie in his lap and pressed a button. An officer on the other side began talking.

"All units, suspect is on foot heading into the iron works."

...

The car skidded to a halt when Stiles spotted Derek crouched down behind some boxes and pieces of scrap metal. Chris Argent was stood up on a high platform with a gun in his hands.

"Get in!" Stiles yelled before quickly climbing over the seats and into the back beside Harper.

Bullets began to fire rapidly, Harper's heartbeat picking up with every single one as Derek ran to the car, quickly jumping into the seat that Stiles had previously been in. Harper wasn't good with guns. Not after what had happened to her parents.

The tires screeched as Scott drove away, bullets bouncing off of the car as Argent tried to get the wanted werewolf.

"What part of laying low don't you understand?" Scott yelled, taking his eyes off of the road for a second to glance at Derek.

Derek slammed his hand against the dashboard. "Damn it! I had him!" Derek yelled back, angry and frustrated.

"Who, the Alpha?" Stiles leaned forwards, poking his head through the seats to ask.

"Yes!" The oldest werewolf cried. "He was right in front of me, and the freaking police showed up."

Stiles winced. "Hey, they're just doing their jobs..." He tried to defend his dad.

Derek glared at him, Stiles' face crumbling under his gaze. "Yeah, thanks to someone who decided to make me the most wanted fugitive in the entire state." He spat sarcastically, looking straight at Scott.

"Can we seriously get past that?" Scott cried. "I made a dumbass mistake. I get it."

Harper sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Enough yelling, guys. How did you find him?" She turned to Derek.

Derek didn't say anything, he just continued glaring straight ahead.

"Can you try to trust us for at least half a second?" Scott sighed.

"Yeah, all three of us." Stiles chimed in.

Derek made a face at him and Stiles cringed. "Or just him. We'll be back here." He fell back into the seat beside Harper.

"Look, the last time I talked to my sister, she was close to figuring something out. She found two things. The first was a guy named Harris."

Stiles jolted forwards. "Our chemistry teacher?"

"Why him?" Harper asked.

"I don't know yet." Derek grumbled.

"What's the second?" Scott questioned.

Derek reached down into the pocket of his trousers, pulling out a small folded piece of paper. He unfolded it and showed the three teenagers it. In the centre was a familiar looking symbol, a wolf in the centre with shapes around it.

Harper couldn't put her finger on where she had seen it before, but she knew she had.

"Some kind of symbol." Derek muttered.

Scott closed his eyes for a second, sighing deeply. Everyone looked at him either eagerly or concerned.

"What? You know what this is?"

The youngest werewolf hesitated. "I've seen it on a necklace."

Harper suddenly remembered, gasping. "Allison's necklace!"

...

"This is gonna be impossible, you know." Scott sighed as he pushed open the doors to the school, Harper and Stiles following close behind hand in hand.

"Why can't Harper just ask to borrow it?" Stiles asked as he held the closing door open for Harper. "Don't girls share things, like, all the time?"

The brunette rolled her eyes. "Because girls don't share jewellery unless it's really pretty, and she knows that necklace really isn't my taste."

Stiles groaned loudly, turning to face Scott. "Okay, so why don't you just talk to her?" He questioned as if it was obvious.

"She won't talk to me." Scott sounded genuinely hurt. "What if she, like, only takes it off in the shower or something?"

"That's why you ease... that's why you ease back into it, okay?" Stiles let go of Harper's hand to make hand gestures. "Get back on her good side, remind her of the good times. And then you ask her for the necklace."

Scott paused in the middle of the hallway, and unknown look on his face. Harper's face scrunched up when she realised what he was thinking about, her hand reaching out to slap the werewolf on the arm.

"Stop thinking about Allison in the shower, you pervert." Harper hissed, rolling her eyes. "You've got to stay focused, okay, Scotty? Get the necklace, get the Alpha, get cured, get Allison back."

"In that order, got it?" Stiles slapped his shoulder.

...

"How the hell did he find out?" Stiles cried as the three teenagers rounded the corner.

Apparently Jackson had cornered Scott about knowing that he was a werewolf, and that he wanted the bite too. If Scott didn't get the bite for Jackson, then the star athlete was threatening to tell Allison about him.

"I have no idea." Scott's voice was raised as he panicked. Harper could feel his anxiety, and it was making her uneasy.

"All right. Did he say it out loud? The word?" The Stilinski boy asked, trying to somehow make the situation a little better.

"What word?" Scott lowered his voice, confused.

Harper rolled her eyes, annoyed at her best friends' lack of common sense. "Werewolf, you idiot. Did he say, 'I know you're a werewolf'?"

Scott shook his head, ignoring her insult. "No, but he implied it pretty freaking clearly."

Stiles thought things over for a second. "Okay, maybe it's not as bad as it seems." He tried. "I mean, he doesn't have any proof, right? And if he wanted to tell someone, who's gonna believe him anyway?"

"Yeah, they'd just think that's he's gone crazy, or something." Harper attempted to reassure him.

"How about Allison's father?" Scott spat.

Harper's eyes widened and Stiles' face fell. They hadn't thought about that at all.

"Bloody hell." Harper muttered at the same time as Stiles spoke, "okay, it's bad."

"I need a cure. Right now." Scott stressed.

Stiles ran a hand through his buzz cut. "Does he know about Allison's father?"

"I don't know." Scott shook his head again for the hundredth time that day.

Stiles thought again. "Okay, where's Derek?"

"Hiding, like we told him to. Why?"

"I have another idea." Stiles stopped, putting his hand on Scott's chest to stop him too. "It's gonna take a little time and finesse, though."

Harper raised her dark brows. "You guys have a game tonight, remember? Quarterfinals?" She looked at her boyfriend. "And it's your first game. You can't miss it."

"I know, I know." Stiles groaned. "Look," he turned to Scott. "Do you have a plan for Allison yet?"

Scott sighed. "She's in my next class."

"Get the necklace." Stiles ordered before linking hands with Harper and walking down the hall.

Harper smiled softly as she looked down at their intertwined fingers and then back up at her boyfriend. She loved to call him that. Her boyfriend. Harper squeezed his hand as she stopped at her locker to get her maths books out.

"I need to talk to you at some point." Harper mumbled, her voice muffled since her head was half in her locker as she searched through it for the ugly, bright orange book. "It's important. Kind of."

Stiles raised his eyebrows. "On a scale of one to ten, ten being super important, how important is it?"

Harper thought for a second. "Depends. Maybe a solid eight, nine."

His hazel eyes widened slightly. "What's it about?"

She hummed, grabbing his hand as she closed the locker door. "Let's not talk about it right now. That's what later is for, okay?"

Stiles nodded, though he wanted to know desperately. Harper wanted to tell him desperately, but she didn't know how to word it yet, or what she was going to say. Plus, maybe telling him at school wouldn't be the best idea.

"Anyways, I have maths. See you after." Harper kissed him on the lips quickly, much to his surprise.

"Still not used to that." He blinked quickly, ignoring the looks he was getting from students passing them by.

Harper giggled. "Bye, Sti."

"Bye." He waved nervously as she walked down the hall.

...

Stiles placed his tray down next to Harper and opposite a very grumpy Scott. He had sent Allison pictures of them together in class the period before, but Allison had stormed out crying. She accused him of trying to make her feel bad and then said that they weren't even friends again, yet.

"Did you get her to give you the necklace?" Stiles asked somewhat nervously.

"Not exactly." Scott rolled his eyes.

Stiles sighed, like he was expecting that response. "What happened?"

"She told me not to talk to her." Scott spoke as Stiles took a massive bite of his chicken. "At all."

The boy with the buzz cut nodded, his mouth still full as he spoke. "So she's not giving you..."

"She's not giving me the necklace!" Scott cut him off angrily, mad that he cared more about the necklace than the fact that Allison hated him.

"Okay, did you find anything else out?" Harper spoke carefully, not wanting to upset Scott in any way.

She tucked her hair out of her face as she took a bite of her single slice of pizza. It was already cold.

"Just that I know nothing about girls and that they're totally psychotic." Scott admitted.

The short brunette glared at him, kicking his leg under the table. "Not all of us are, Scott. Besides, she was upset. You just... You just need to get on her good side again."

Scott hummed, barely acknowledging what she had said, too focused on being sad. He knew he probably should listen to Harper, since she was a girl and tended to generally be the least messed-up out of the three of them, but he just wanted to sulk for now.

"Okay, I came up with a plan B just in case anything like this happened." Stiles began.

"What is it?" Harper wondered.

Stiles picked up the salt and rolled his eyes. "Just steal the stupid thing." He muttered, twisting the bottle.

Harper raised her eyebrows.

"Couldn't we try at least getting to Harris?" Scott pleaded.

"My dad put him on a 24-hour protective detail, okay?" Stiles mumbled, mouth full. "The necklace is all we got. Steal it. Thank you."

Harper rolled her eyes and started to eat the rest of her pizza, enjoying the ten seconds of silence that followed their intense conversation. She looked up, seeing Scott staring at something behind her. The brunette turned her head and saw Jackson watching them.

She quickly turned back around. "Why is Jackson watching us?" Harper hissed.

Stiles stopped drinking from his water bottle and looked over in Jackson's direction, not-so subtly turning his head. Jackson didn't even look away when Stiles turned back to his best friends, eyes wide.

"Act normal." Scott mumbled.

Harper awkwardly began to eat slower while Stiles slumped in his seat and Scott crossed his arms, looking down at the table.

How normal.

Scott began to wince, looking a mixture of confused and anxious as time went on. Harper thought she could feel the anxiety coming off of him.

"What's wrong?" She whispered.

"Jackson's talking to me. He knows I can hear him." Scott explained quickly. "Look at me." He hissed when Stiles started to freak out silently. "Just talk to me. Act normal. Pretend that nothing's happening. Say something. Talk to me!"

Stiles waved his hands about above his head. "I can't think of anything. My mind's a complete blank."

"Your mind's blank? You can't think of something to say?" Scott muttered in complete disbelief.

"Not under this kind of pressure." Stiles argued.

Harper looked behind her again. "He's not sat there anymore." She whispered to them both.

The werewolf looked around, clearly paranoid. "Where the hell is he?"

Scott suddenly froze, and Harper knew that Jackson was talking to Scott again. His hands began to shake the longer Jackson talked and Harper looked down at her own hands that were on her lap, seeing them shaking, too. Her eyes widened and she looked back up at Scott.

His hand was clenched around his water bottle, squeezing it until it was crushed within his grip. Harper could feel her own heart pounding.

What was going on?

"Scott, stop." Harper lifted her shaking hands to his, squeezing it for a second before pulling away. "Don't let him make you mad, okay?"

She could feel herself growing mad, and she knew she needed to leave. Every single thing that Scott was feeling, she could feel, and she felt so out of control and weak. Harper was angry, but only because Scott was.

"I need to leave." Harper felt like she was about to throw up.

She ignored Stiles calling after her as she left the lunch room, anger radiating off of her. Harper couldn't help it. She wanted to switch it off, go back to her normal, content self, but she wanted to kill Jackson. It terrified her how much she wanted to kill Jackson- which was weird, since he had been acting somewhat nice to her since the whole video store incident.

Harper moved down the hall, past busy students, trying to get as far away from the cafeteria as she could. As soon as she left the school doors, everything stopped. The anger was gone, she no longer felt the need to commit murder, and her hands weren't shaking.

Confused, Harper stepped back into the school, and everything hit her again. The anger, the urge to wrap her hands around Jackson Whittmore's throat, everything. She stepped back out again.

The feelings were gone.

What the hell?

...

Stiles: what happened??

Stiles: you okay?

Stiles: please text me so I know you're alive Harper x

(2) missed call(s) from Stiles

Sighing, Harper was about to reply when a hand gripped her arm, tugging her back into the school. The brunette expected to feel anger again, but instead she felt sad. She followed the hand attached to her arm and saw a strawberry blonde tugging her along.

"No 'hi'?" Harper teased weakly. She didn't feel like being social with people, not after whatever the hell just happened. She felt emotionally exhausted.

Lydia rolled her green eyes. "We need to confront Jackson." She spat. She sounded angry, yet she was screaming sad.

Harper was confused and just wanted to sleep it off.

Why did she feel like crying?

She was having more mood swings than a pregnant woman- and yet none of them were her own emotions. Harper knew that she needed to talk to Derek as soon as possible. Maybe he knew what was going on with her.

"We need to confront Jackson, or you need to confront Jackson?"

Lydia ignored her, yelling out her boyfriends name as soon as she saw him walking down the hall, his signature smirk on his face. "Jackson! This little text? Not funny!"

She let go of Harper's arm to pull her phone out of the bag over her shoulder. "What text?" Harper mumbled.

"I wasn't trying to be funny." Jackson replied. "I would have put a 'ha-ha' at the end of it. And, see, there's no 'ha-ha'."

Lydia looked like she was about to crumble, but she remained strong, planting the biggest, most sarcastic smile on her face.

"'Lydia, please give up my spare house key at your earliest convenience'." She read out loud from her phone before pausing. "'As we are no longer dating'?"

"You didn't lose it, did you?" Jackson frowned sarcastically.

Harper felt herself grown angry. "You're such an arsehole, Jackson!" She spat. "Dumping someone over text message? How could you be so freaking shallow?"

"Well," Jackson began. "In preparation for some big changes, I've decided to drop some of the dead weight in my life. And you're just about the deadest."

"Don't be a jackass." The brunette spat.

Harper's blood ran cold. She knew what he was talking about- it had something to do with the bite. Had Scott told him he would get him it? Did Derek? Wait, why would Jackson be talking to Derek?

Harper glared, feeling Lydia's sadness seep into her.

The strawberry blonde hissed, "are you breaking up with me?"

Jackson just smirked. "Dumping, actually. I'm dumping you." He confirmed before chuckling and walking away.

Lydia grabbed his arm, yanking him backwards. "Dumped by the co-captain of the lacrosse team." She hummed. "I wonder how many minutes it'll take me to get over that."

Jackson shrugged, smirking as he blew her a kiss and began to walk away.

"Wait, seconds, actually. Seconds!" She yelled angrily.

Harper began tearing up, Lydia's emotions overwhelming her body. She grabbed the strawberry blonde and pulled her into the same bathroom that they had many of their heart-to-hearts in.

"Why are you crying?" Lydia mumbled weakly. "He's the one that dumped me."

Harper shrugged, "I don't know."

It was somewhat true. She knew why she was crying- because Jackson had broken up with Lydia and she could feel everything that Lydia was feeling. But at the same time, she had no clue why she was feeling Lydia's emotions. Or Scott's. All she knew was that it was extremely exhausting.

"You deserve so much better, Lyds." She grabbed the girl and wrapped her in a hug. "Jackass is just waste of space. Think of all of the guys that you could be dating now that you're a free woman."

Lydia wiped away the tears from under her eyes, thankful that none of her mascara had smudged. "You're right." She forced a smirk. "I do deserve so much better."

Harper smiled. "Of course. You're Lydia freaking Martin! And he's just Jackson."

"I'm Lydia Martin." Lydia nodded, looking at herself in the mirror as she applied some more shimmery lip gloss. "And he's just Jackson." She scoffed.

Harper knew that Lydia was lying to herself, she wasn't fine and she cared a lot, but Harper also knew that Lydia's way of coping was pretending that she didn't care until eventually she wasn't pretending anymore.

"Go make him regret it."

Lydia grinned. "Oh, I will."


	22. Chapter 22

After texting Stiles that she was okay and that she would explain later, Harper called Derek. Yes, Derek Hale, creepy werewolf with even creepier issues. She needed his help, bad. Surprisingly, he picked up on her first time calling him.

"Derek, I need your help." Harper spoke urgently.

"What is it?" While his tone wasn't panicked, but he did sound slightly concerned.

"Okay, well, you know how you said that the Alpha wanted me in its pack? Well, yeah, it bit me on the night that we were trapped at the school and ever since really strange things have been happening and I don't know-"

"The Alpha bit you?" Derek repeated, this time sounding a little panicked. "What kind of things? How strange?"

Harper groaned. "Can we meet up somewhere? It's probably easier if I explain it to you in person."

"Meet me at Stiles' house." He replied.

He hung up before Harper had the chance to ask him why he was at her boyfriend's house. Harper bit her lip, putting her phone in the back pocket of her jeans. She had gone home quickly to put on some warmer clothes, so it wouldn't take long to get to Stiles' house by foot.

Her grandma stopped her before she could leave the house. "Where are you going?" Rose asked.

Harper forced an awkward smile. "Stiles' house."

"Ah, your boyfriend's house." She raised her eyebrows teasingly.

Ever since Rose had found out about Harper and Stiles dating, she hadn't stopped teasing her granddaughter about it. She was always saying things like 'I told you so' or 'I knew you would end up together when you were only eleven' and refering to Stiles as 'Harper's boyfriend' instead of just 'Stiles'.

"Yes, my boyfriend's house." Harper muttered under her breath, blushing heavily. "Can I go now? I'm having dinner with him." She lied.

Rose nodded. "I suppose." She began to cough. "Silly old cough. It's getting bad again."

Harper frowned. "Do you need me to book you another appointment with the doctors, grandma?" She asked sweetly, concerned.

Her grandma shook her head. "Made one myself. I'll see you when you get back then."

"Okay." Harper was hesitant as she placed a kiss on her grandma's forehead. "You'll be okay?"

"Yes, now go!" Rose chuckled, wheezing a little.

...

Harper rushed towards the Stilinski household just as Stiles pulled up in front of it. He watched her with furrowed eyebrows as she quickly tapped on his window. Stiles opened the door, climbing out.

"What are you doing here?" He questioned, opening the front door to his house. "I mean, not that I don't want you to be here, it's just-"

Rolling her brown eyes, Harper replied. "Derek told me to meet him here. I need to talk to him about the supernatural stuff that's been going on with me, since I have no clue what's happening."

Stiles' eyes widened. "You trust him?!" He exclaimed.

Harper sighed. "He knows more than us. I don't know, maybe he can smell out what I am and then we can go from there. I just know that I'm done with... whatever the hell is happening to me."

Stiles' eyebrows raised as they walked up the stairs. "What is happening to you?"

"I'll explain it when Derek gets here. Saves me having to tell it twice."

The couple entered Stiles' bedroom and Stiles immediately chucked his bag down on the floor beside the door, sitting down at the chair in front of his desk. Harper was about to lay on his bed when she saw a dark figure. She gasped, almost having a heart attack until she realised it was just Derek.

"Hey, Stiles!" Noah called from downstairs.

"Yo, Da- Derek." His eyes widened when he saw him stood there.

Derek held his finger up to his lips and warned Stiles with hand movements to get rid of his dad. Harper sat down on Stiles' bed, watching.

"I, um." Stiles raced towards the door, poking half of his body out to that Noah couldn't see inside.

"What did you just say?" She heard Noah frown.

Stiles scoffed. "What? I said 'Yo, Dad'."

"Listen, I've got something I've got to take care of..."

Harper stopped listening as she turned to face Derek. She didn't know what to say first. The brunette sighed and laid down on the bed, facing the ceiling as she waited for Stiles and Noah to be done talking. She'd wait to see why Derek wanted to meet at Stiles' house in the first place, and then ask him.

"Me too, I'm happy and proud of myself." Harper caught the end of the Stilinski's conversation, mentally cringing at her boyfriend's awkwardness.

"So they're really gonna let you play, right?" Noah hesitated, and Harper had to hold back a snort at the lack of faith that he had in his son.

"Yeah, dad. I'm first line," Stiles announced. "You bet." He added in a squeak.

"I'm very proud." Harper could practically hear the smile on Noah's face.

"Oh, me too." He paused. "Again, I'm... oh."

The door closed behind Stiles fully as his dad wrapped him into a tight hug, patting his back.

"Huggie. Huggie, huggie." He muttered awkwardly as they pulled away from each other.

"See you there." Harper heard Noah say before his footsteps began to go down the hall.

Stiles replied, "Take it easy."

As soon as Stiles came back through the door, Harper sat up in time to see Derek grab his jacket and slam him up against it. Harper's eyes widened and she jumped off of the bed, angrily watching as Derek pointed a finger at the lanky teenager, anger radiating off of him.

Harper could feel his anger for Stiles, and it made her angry at her boyfriend, too. She tried to hold it back, she didn't want to yell at Stiles or be mad at him, but she couldn't help it. What was going on with her?

"If you say one word..." Derek growled.

"What, you mean, like, 'hey, dad, Derek Hale's in my room. Bring your gun'?" Stiles sassed back. "Yeah, that's right. If I'm harboring your fugitive ass, it's my house, my rules, buddy." He slapped Derek's shoulder as the werewolf nodded and released him.

Harper felt the anger melt away and she sighed with relief, falling back onto Stiles' bed. His scent lingered on the covers and the pillows, instantly managing to calm her down even further.

"Scott didn't get the necklace?" Derek guessed as Stiles sat back down in his desk chair.

"Nope." Harper muttered. "Still working on it."

Stiles nodded, "yeah, but there's something else we can try. The night we were trapped in the school, Scott sent a text to Allison and Harper asking them to meet us there."

Derek frowned, "so?"

"So it wasn't Scott."

Derek frowned even deeper. "Well, can you find out who sent it?"

The boy with the buzz cut shook his head. "No, not me. But I think I know someone who can." He turned around and began to type on his laptop.

Danny.

...

"You want me to do what?" Danny gaped, complete disbelief written across his features as he stood in front of Stiles, his bag hung over his shoulders.

"Trace a text." Stiles replied simply.

"I came here to do lab work. That's what lab partners do."

Stiles groaned. "And we will, once you trace the text."

Harper watched from where she was still sat on the bed as Danny squinted his eyes. "And what makes you think I know how?"

"I looked up your arrest report, so..." Stiles spoke more nervously.

Danny looked completely flustered. "I- I was thirteen." He claimed. "They dropped the charges. No, we're doing lab work."

Harper's head fell against the pillow yet again as she closed her eyes. She wasn't going to sleep, since they were currently in the middle of something very important, but she needed to rest her eyes. The poor girl had been feeling a hell of a lot of emotions today, towards people she didn't even know, towards the people she loved.

She heard typing on Stiles' laptop.

"Who's he again?" She just about heard Danny murmur.

He was talking about Derek who was sat on a chair by the bed, reading a book. Harper waited for Stiles' excuse.

"Um, my cousin... Miguel."

"Is that blood on his shirt?" Danny asked, confused.

Stiles took too long to reply so Harper quickly spoke up, opening her eyes. "Yeah, well, he gets these really bad nosebleeds for, like, no reason sometimes."

Her boyfriend nodded along quickly, turning to face the werewolf at the back of the room. "Hey, Miguel. I thought I told you you could borrow one of my shirts." He nodded his head towards the chest of drawers beside him.

Derek closed the book silently, throwing it down onto the bed beside Harper's feet, missing them by only a couple of centimetres. He got up and took his shirt off, revealing a tattoo on his back. Harper stared at it for a moment, wondering what it meant.

"Stiles?" Derek inturrupted the two teenage boys from talking. "This... no fit." He stretched the smaller shirt in his hands, turning around.

Stiles just glared at him while Danny stared. "Then try something else on." The pale teenager hissed before turning back to Danny, only to see him watching Derek like a hawk.

Harper raised her eyebrows as her boyfriend turned to face her, the two of them sharing knowing smirks.

"That one looks pretty good, huh?" The girl had to hold back a laugh as Derek put on an ugly brown and blue shirt, the material clinging to him like a second layer of skin.

Harper had never even seen Stiles wear that shirt.

Stiles nodded, slapping Derek's shoulder. "What do you think, Danny?"

Danny snapped out of his trance. "Huh?" He replied awkwardly.

Stiles pointed towards a very grumpy looking Derek. "The shirt."

The tan boy sighed loudly, hesitating before saying, "It's... It's not really his colour." He cleared his throat.

Derek took his shirt off again, looking through the drawers for a new one.

"You swing for a different team, but you still play ball, don't you, Danny Boy?" Stiles teased, his voice low as they turned back around to face Stiles' MacBook.

"You're a horrible person." Danny dead-panned.

Stiles didn't miss a beat before replying. "I know. It keeps me awake at night. "Anyway, about that text..."

"Stiles!" Derek suddenly yelled, making Harper jump. "None of these fit." He seethed, holding up a dark shirt in his clenched fist.

Stiles and Harper turned back to Danny.

"I'll need the ISP, the phone number, and the exact time of the text." He said quickly, leaning forwards and pressing something on Stiles' laptop.

...

Harper and Derek stood behind Danny and Stiles as Danny typed away on the laptop. She watched curiously as Danny clicked a button, the screen loading to reveal yet another page.

He sighed. "There." He pointed at the screen. "This text was sent from a computer. This one."

Harper leaned forwards to see better, practically breathing down her boyfriend's neck. Stiles and Harper were both extremely confused, and she could even feel the shock coming off of Derek, only adding to her own surprise.

"Registered to that account name?" Derek confirmed.

Harper shook her head, chuckling nervously. "Surely something's wrong. She wouldn't... Would she?"

Text message located::filesystem catalog entry:

Account registered to:

Beacon Hills Hospital - Melissa McCall

...

Harper was in the back of the jeep while Derek and Stiles sat in the front as they made their way to Beacon Hills Hospital to find the computer that Melissa had sent the text message from, or just Melissa.

"Hey," she tapped the older werewolf's shoulder. "You said that you'd help me find out what's going on with me."

Derek nodded, looking back at the teenage girl. "What's happened since the Alpha bit you?"

He scanned Harper up and down, managing to instantly make her feel uncomfortable. She started to play with her own hands, a nervous habit of hers.

The brunette sighed. "Not what happened to Scott, that's for sure. It took over a day for my bite to heal, and I don't have heightened senses like he did."

"That's because you're not a werewolf." Derek explained. "Remember what I told you. You're not human, you're something else. The Alpha bit you to speed up the process of you gaining whatever power you have so you can join his pack. If you tell me what's happened to you then maybe I can tell you what you are."

"Does that mean there are a whole load of supernatural things living in Beacon Hills?" Stiles interrupted, amazed that he hadn't noticed any strange things happening before Scott had been bitten.

Derek just nodded, shooting Stiles a look of annoyance.

"Cool!" He grinned.

Harper gave him a glare and he stopped. "Well, this is going to sound crazy, but I can feel what everybody else is feeling. Like, in my exam all I could feel was everybody's anxiety, and then I could feel Scott's anger, Lydia's sadness... And it's completely overwhelming."

Derek's eyes were wide. "I know what you are."

Both Harper and Stiles jolted spastically. "Tell me." Harper gasped, feeling a mixture of excitement and nervousness.

The werewolf shook his head. "I don't know how I didn't realise before, your last name is literally Verum." The two teenagers stared at him in complete confusion. "Do you even know what your last name translates to in Latin?"

Harper shook her head no. She wasn't the kind of person to research her family history or look up what her name meant in different languages. She figured the name "Harper Verum" was pretty plain and boring.

"It means truth."

Stiles spoke up. "Harper said something weird in her sleep the night she was bitten... I think it was Latin, too."

Derek looked to Stiles. "Do you know what she said?"

The boy with buzz cut sighed, shaking his head. He wished he had recorded it or memorised the words, but he had been too busy trying to wake Harper up from whatever nightmare she was having.

"Wait, so what am I?" Harper questioned, not knowing if she really wanted to know or not.

"An Empath."

Harper raised her eyebrows. "An Empath?" She repeated, bored. Out of everything she could possibly be, it had to be an Empath- possibly one of the most useless supernatural creatures ever.

Derek nodded once.

"Great, so I'm like a knock-off banshee?" Harper asked sarcastically.

"It's not that bad. If you really want to know about your kind, you should look it up. Empaths aren't common- the last ever family lived in England- your family. But that's about all I know."

"Does that mean I'm the last Empath?" Harper asked, trying to think things over calmly.

"Unless your grandma is, too." Derek replied. "Who was the Empath out of your parents?"

Harper rolled her eyes. "I don't know, I'd ask, but they're kind of dead."

Derek growled at her as a warning. "Which one of your parents had the surname."

"My mum. She kept 'Verum' even when she married my dad. He didn't want to take the surname."

This was news to Stiles. Despite knowing Harper's parents closely before they died, he had always thought they were all just 'Verum'.

"So your mum was the Empath. You need to talk to anybody on your mum's side of the family. If they aren't, then you are the last Empath in the world." Derek announced.

Harper whistled, "that's a lot of responsibility."

Harper had so many more questions, but she was cut off by her phone ringing. She looked down to see Scott's caller ID come up, a cheesy picture of him underneath it. Stiles pulled over and into the car park.

"Did you get the picture?" Scott asked as soon as she put him on speaker, so Derek and Stiles could talk to him too.

"Yeah, I did, and it looks just like the drawing." Stiles explained.

Derek grabbed Stiles' wrist, pulling the phone to his face. "Hey, is there something on the back of it? There's gotta be something. An inscription, an opening, something."

"No, no, the thing's flat. And no, it doesn't open." Scott told them. "There's nothing in it, on it, around it, nothing. And where are you? You're supposed to be here. You're first line."

Harper's heart dropped when she remembered that Stiles was missing his first ever lacrosse game. She heard Scott start to talk to Scott in the background of the call, or more like yell.

"Man, you're not gonna play if you're not here to start." The teen wolf warned him.

"I know." Stiles slammed the bottom of his hand against the wheel, clearly fustrated. "Look, if you see my dad, can you tell him... Tell him I'll be there, I'll just be a little late, okay? All right, thanks."

Harper hung up.

Derek stared at him. "You're not gonna make it."

"I know."

"And you didn't tell him about his mum, either."

Harper sighed. "We're not telling Scott anything until we find out the truth."

It was silent for a few seconds before Derek spoke up again. "By the way, one more thing."

"Yeah." Stiles turned to face him.

Before Harper could react, Derek had grabbed the back of Stiles' head and slammed it into the wheel. Stiles let out a cry and Harper gasped loudly, feeling her nose start to trickle with blood.

"What the hell, Derek?" She cried, her tone muffled as she pinched her nose, trying to stop the bleeding without ruining her white long sleeved shirt.

Stiles was swearing under his breath, yelping rubbed his sore nose.

Derek rolled his eyes, "you know what that was for. Go. Go!"

Harper grumbled out curses as she climbed over the seat, making sure to 'accidentally' kick Derek with her heeled shoe on the way out. She let go of her nose to inspect Stiles' face for any bruising or bleeding. There was nothing.

"Your nose is bleeding." Stiles winced, using the sleeve of his jacket to wipe it away since he didn't have a tissue. "Was that your... empath abilities?"

The brunette rolled her eyes. "I guess."

...

Harper grabbed Stiles' hand as they walked around the empty halls of Beacon Hills hospitals, trying to find Melissa.

"Yeah, I said we can't find her." Stiles told Derek down the phone.

"Look, ask for Jennifer. She's been looking after my uncle."

The couple walked around the corner to Peter's hospital room, only to find it was empty. Everything was clean and untouched, the bed made and not a single personal item in sight.

"Yeah, well, he's not here either." Stiles announced.

"What?" Derek questioned in disblief.

"He's not here. He's gone." Harper reached up onto her toes to speak into the phone. Stiles lowered it slightly for her to talk to before pressing it against his ear again.

Harper didn't hear the rest since Stiles took Derek off speaker phone. She was distracted by a black mist trailing faintly around her feet. She looked up at the same time as Stiles, only to see a man stood there. The black mist surrounded him before Harper blinked, and then suddenly it was gone.

It was Peter Hale, Derek's uncle.

Stiles' eyes were wide as he took in the man, Peter's, appearance. Half of his face was burnt off, from the fire about ten years ago. He just stared at them, his eyes lingering over Harper.

"Harper." Peter allowed a sadistic grin to cross his face. "How is my Empath doing?" He glanced over at the horrified boy standing next to her. "And you must be Stiles."

Stiles grabbed Harper's hand tighter, placing her slightly behind him as he lowered the phone slowly from his ear, taking a step backwards, ready to run. They stopped in their tracks when they saw a nurse stood in their way, an innocent look on her face.

"What are you doing here?" Her tone was mocking. "Visiting hours are over."

Harper's eyes widened, realising that it and been them to send the text message to her and Allison.

Peter Hale was the Alpha.

Stiles' face fell again. "You..." He pointed at the nurse. "And him." He paused. "You're the one who... Oh, my... And he's..." He kept looking back and forth between them. "Oh, my God, we're gonna die. We're gonna die."

"Oh, bloody hell." Harper muttered.

Harper squeezed his hand just as Derek jumped in, smacking the nurse with his elbow and sending her straight to the ground. She remained unconcious and Peter didn't even flinch.

"That's not nice." Peter mocked. "She's my nurse."

Derek huffed. "She's a psychotic bitch helping you kill people. Get out of the way." He gestured towards the two teenagers.

Stiles quickly pulled his girlfriend down with him to the ground, muttering something under his breath, his heart beating out of control. He was honestly more worried about Harper's life than his own. After all, death doesn't happen to you, it happens to the people around you.

"You think I killed Laura on purpose?" Peter began to walk towards Derek. "One of my own family?"

Derek suddenly growled, his eyes flashing an electric blue colour. Derek jumped up onto the wall and kicked off of it, landing straight on Peter. Stiles tugged Harper back as Peter grabbed Derek's jacket, slamming him against the wall.

Stiles shielded Harper as the two werewolves began to fight, slamming each other into walls and growling. Peter threw Derek beside Harper and Stiles, dust from the walls falling on top of them. The teenage boy scrambled away, taking Harper with him behind the reception counter.

The sound of glass smashing and a body falling was the last straw for Stiles. He needed to get Harper and himself out of there. Harper already had the same idea- grabbing Stiles arm and dragging him out of the back of the hospital. They didn't stop running until they were back in Stiles' jeep.

Stiles turned on the engine as Harper suddenly realised. "Wait! What about Derek? He'll be okay, right?" She bit her lip nervously as Stiles pulled out of the hospital.

Stiles looked back at the hospital anxiously. "We can only hope."


	23. Chapter 23

"Allison, when you said you needed to stop for an errand before we went shopping, a five-mile hike in the woods was not what I was expecting." Lydia panted as she and Harper attempted to catch up with the Argent, who was storming ahead.

Harper nodded. "Yeah, someone needs to warn me before we go into the woods because I always get my shoes muddy." She looked down at her Adidas shoes, once again wanting to cry for them.

The strawberry blonde raised an eyebrow. "How many times have you been in these woods?"

"Oh, um, not many." Harper quickly lied, becoming flustered by the sudden question. "Allison, why don't you tell us what we're doing here?"

"Before that, I want to ask Lydia something." Allison spoke, carrying the massive black bag underneath her shoulder. "Jackson asked me to the winter formal."

Harper and Lydia's eyes both widened. "Did he?" Lydia squeaked.

The Empath could feel the jealousy rolling off of her. Her and Stiles read last night that a new Empath could feel the emotions of others and accidentally act on them- she really hoped that she would have hers under control until she finds more about what she could do.

"Yeah. Just as friends. But I wanted to make sure that you were okay with it first."

Lydia nodded. "Sure, as long as it's just friends." Lies. Lies. Lies.

"Well, yeah, I mean, it's not like I would take him into a random classroom during lacrosse practice to make out with him or anything. Would I, Harper?" Allison sneered, chuckling sarcastically.

Harper's face immediately turned red and she felt like crying with guilt. Lydia's mouth fell open and she let out an inhuman noise as Harper quickly grabbed Allison's shoulder.

"Allison... I didn't kiss him back, I swear. I would never-"

Allison rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter."

...

"What does that do?" Lydia asked as Allison crouched down, screwing some sort of arrow head down.

Harper didn't know anything about archery at all, but she did know that that wasn't a normal arrow. She had a feeling that it had something to do with the fact that the Argents knew that there was a second Beta around, and they knew it went to Beacon Hills High School.

"We're about to find out." Allison replied, lifting it up from the ground.

She put it in the bow and pulled the arrow back, concentrating on the tree in front of her. She released it and it went flying flawlessly through the air, only stopping when it hit the centre of the tree. Sparks flew from it and there was a small explosion, smoke filling the air.

Harper's eyebrows were raised in shock. "Um, what the hell, Allison?"

"I don't know." Allison replied, slowly putting the bow down.

Lydia spoke up, "Well, that was fun." She slapped her gloved hands together sarcastically. "Any more lethal weapons you want to try out?"

"Or can we go shopping now?" Harper begged.

She had saved enough money to buy a dress for the winter formal- even though Stiles hadn't asked her yet. All she wanted was to have a normal, un-supernatural day. Somehow, Allison always seemed to ruin that without even realising it.

A twig suddenly snapped in the distance, causing all three girls to grow silent. It happened again, the noise echoing throughout the woods.

Harper looked around, praying that the cause of the twigs snapping wasn't the Alpha- or should she just call him Peter now? Another snap happened and Harper whirled around, now knowing that whatever it was, was in front of them.

"Hold this." Allison didn't look away from the direction the noise was in, handing the bow to Lydia who looked at it in complete fear and disgust.

Lydia accepted it anyway. "What? Why?" She whispered.

"Because I thought I heard something." Allison whispered back, taking her gloves off.

Harper chuckled nervously. "Well, I mean, it's perfectly normal for other people to be in the woods. This is a public place, you know. Maybe we should just ignore it and go home- let them just enjoy their day in the woods."

Allison rolled her eyes. "I want to find out what that something is." She paused. "Don't worry, it's probably nothing."

Lydia's eyes were wide as Allison began to walk towards the noise. "Well, what if that nothing is something and that something is something dangerous?"

The tall brunette paused in her step. "Shoot it." She deadpanned, walking on again.

The strawberry blonde whimpered from beside Harper. Harper sighed, running a hand through her hair, praying that Allison would come back in one piece.

...

They had spent about two minutes waiting for Allison, when Harper suddenly felt an agonising pain in her stomach. It felt like she was being electrocuted, her entire body collapsing as she fell to the ground. Lydia shrieked, throwing the bow to the ground away from them and dropping to her knees, trying to help her best friend.

"Ow- ow!" Harper cried out, her entire face scrunched up in pain as her arms started to move without her permission. "Check on All-Allison!"

All Harper could think of was Allison being hurt. She knew that she had just been electrocuted, and it wasn't Lydia, so it must have been their other best friend. If Allison was hurt then she would never forgive herself for letting her go out there while knowing what existed in Beacon Hills.

Lydia glared at her as if she was crazy. "What the heck, Harper!" She yelled as the brunette calmed down with one last jolt of her leg. "What the hell just happened?"

"Please." Harper ran a hand through her hair, feeling sweat with it. "I think something's wrong with Allison."

Lydia's green eyes shined with anxiety and tears. "Something's wrong with you! You just had a freaking seizure!"

Harper shook her head, her mouth dry and her body numb. "No, no, no. Not a seizure-"

"Yes, a seizure." Lydia interrupted her urgently, pulling out her phone. "Oh God, do I call your grandma? The hospital?"

The petite brunette shook her head, sitting up. "I'm fine now. Let's go find Allison and get out of here." She stood up with the help of Lydia.

Just as they moved to turn around, they bumped into a figure, causing all three girls to scream loudly. Harper held her heart, relief flooding through her when she saw Allison in perfect condition- not a hair out of place.

She raised her eyebrows at the two girls. "What's up with you guys?"

Lydia gasped, "Harper just had a seizure!"

Harper shook her head. "Lydia," she groaned. "It wasn't a seizure."

Allison looked back from where she had come from before turning back around to the girls. Harper didn't notice the suspicious look on her face.

"Did it feel like you were being electrocuted?" She asked, moving to pick up her bow and place it into the bag that she had brought it in.

Harper fiddled with her hands nervously. "I guess."

Allison zipped up the bag, looking up at her. "That's what a seizure can feel like." She raised the bag over her shoulder. "I can drop you off at the hospital."

Harper noticed the distant tone in Allison's voice and became nervous. "Oh, um, sure, thanks." She stuttered, digging her nails into the palm of her hand to stop herself from freaking out. "But I don't think-"

"Hey." Allison grabbed Harper's hand. "It's okay to get yourself checked out at the hospital, just to be on the safe side. After all, you're only human."

She said the last word with such emphasis that it sent chills down Harper's spine.

...

When Allison dropped Harper off at the hospital, Harper said that she would get a ride home from her grandma, so it was okay. Allison and Lydia drove away, much to Harper's relief. The brunette wondered down the hospital to where Melissa always sat at the front desk.

"Hey, Melissa." Harper chirped.

Melissa looked up from the computer, smiling. "Hey, Harper. Are you here for your grandma?" She asked kindly.

Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "My grandma's here?" She looked around, spotting her grandma talking to a doctor down the hall. "What's wrong with her?"

Melissa's eyes were wide. "Oh, maybe you should go and talk to her yourself. I get off of break in five minutes."

Harper gulped, nodding as she began to walk towards her grandma. Rose looked up as the doctor handed her some papers, her face falling when she saw her concerned granddaughter walking over. Harper folded her arms across her chest as the doctor left.

"What are you doing here?" Harper asked, feeling her own worry clog up her throat and her stomach.

Rose smiled uneasily. "I got the test results back from my doctor's appointment. They said that there's nothing to worry about, so I'm all good to go."

Harper just have a short nod, not believing her one hundred percent. "Do you think you could give me a ride home?" She asked. "I'm exhausted."

Rose nodded. "Of course, sweetie. Why are you here, anyway?"

It was Harper's turn to become flustered. "Lydia was here for some medication..." She lied. "I saw you and I decided to go home with you instead."

"Okay, sweetpea. Let's get a move on, then."

...

Frantic knocks at the door cut Harper off from her researching on Empaths, causing her to roll her eyes and groan. Her grandma had headed to bed at only eight after a 'long day' so Harper was the only one available to get the door. When she opened it she was surprised to see Stiles there.

"You normally call before you- have you been crying?" Her teasing tone immediately turned into a concerned one as she stepped outside the house, not wanting to wake up her grandma. "Stiles, what's wrong?"

Stiles sniffled as he moved into his girlfriend's arms, holding her close to him. A few tears left his eyes but he didn't feel too embarrassed, since she had been the one to each him that it was okay for boys to cry, too.

"My dad." Stiles cleared his throat as he pulled away from Harper, wiping his eyes with the back of his hands. "I got him drunk so he would spill some information about the whole Derek Hale case, but he started talking about my mum... he said he missed her."

Harper knew that the Stilinski's never talked about the deceased Claudia Stilinski. They missed her far too much, even if she had died years ago. No amount of time would heal the pain that they felt whenever she was mentioned.

"Oh, Sti." Harper breathed, pulling him into another hug.

Stiles didn't want to talk anymore, he just wanted to hold Harper- the one thing that kept him sane in this new, supernatural world, even if she was a part of it. She adjusted herself so that her arms were resting around his neck, her hands holding him against her. He wrapped his arms around her petite frame, holding her as close as he physically could, resting his face in her neck while one hand ran through her thick hair.

They stayed like this for a couple of minutes until Harper's phone began to buzz in her back pocket. The couple attempted to ignore it, but when it began to ring for the second time, they couldn't anymore.

Sighing, Harper pulled her phone out. She felt even more annoyed when she saw that the person calling her was Scott.

"Hello?" She rolled her eyes.

"Harper, is Stiles with you?" His frantic voice made her feel concerned.

"Yeah, he's right here, why?" She asked, shooting Stiles a strange look.

"Look, my mum is on a date with freaking Peter Hale. You guys need to distract them- we can't-"

"Wait, hold up. Peter Hale as in 'I bite random teenagers' Peter Hale?" Stiles questioned, his mood immediately lifting from the sad state that it was in.

Scott groaned on the other end. "How many Peter Hale's do you know!? Look, I need you and Harper to distract them both. Stop the date. He threatened to turn my mum!"

Stiles and Harper both looked at each other, knowing exactly what they had to do. Neither of them had mums anymore, and Melissa was like a second-mum to the both of them. No way in hell were they going to let Peter Hale hurt Scott's mum.

"Where are they?"

...

"There they are." Harper hissed, pointing at a Ford parked on the side of the road. "What do we do? Do we get out and walk up to them? Do we call Melissa right now? When-"

"Harp." Stiles placed a hand on his girlfriend's bouncing knee, immediately calming her down and making her blush. "I never agree to anything without a plan, you should know that, babe."

Harper chocked on her own spit, her eyes wide. "Babe?" She repeated, her cheeks heating up even more as she looked at him.

Stiles smiled nervously. "Couples give each other nicknames, right? I can call you babe... if you want?!" He suddenly became more frantic, running a hand through his buzz cut. "I can call you sweetheart, or baby? Does baby sound too forced? Or just Harp. Or if you don't even like Harp I can call you Harper. Just because I call you a nickname doesn't mean I don't like your real name. I love your real name- it's my favourite name. Harper. I will just-"

"Sti!" Harper interrupted him loudly, laughing. "Call me babe. Call me sweetheart, or Harp, or just Harper. I don't care. It's cute."

Stiles' face was red as he nodded, swallowing thickly. "Okay, Just Harper." He teased.

Harper rolled her eyes, smiling nevertheless. Her boyfriend was the most adorable thing to ever exist in the universe, and she couldn't be more grateful for him. Especially when he was looking at her like that. She now knew what her grandma and Allison were talking about when they said Stiles' went all love-eyes when he saw her.

She couldn't get enough of him.

"What's your plan, anyway?" Harper asked, adverting her eyes back to the car that Melissa and Peter were in. "And is it going to work?"

Stiles nodded, a look of concentration on his face as his fingers moved to grip the steering wheel of his jeep.

"You have your seat belt on, right?" He glanced over at her lap. "Good."

"Stiles, what-"

Before Harper could finish, Stiles had drove straight into the back of Peter's car. Not hard enough to hurt anyone, but hard enough to scare Harper and probably the two adults in the other car. Harper looked at Stiles with wide eyes.

"Are you crazy?!" She hissed as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

Melissa climbed out of the car, slamming the door and rolling her eyes when they landed on the two teenagers inside the jeep.

"Aww," Melissa laughed dryly before yelling, "are you kidding me?! Stiles!"

Harper got out of her seat, coming around to stand with Stiles who pretended to act shocked to see Melissa stood there. Melissa ran a hand through her nicely done hair. Her makeup was done up all nice and she was wearing a nice outfit. Harper almost felt bad for ruining her date, before she remembered who it was with.

"Ms McCall?" Stiles nervously chuckled.

"Yes!"

"What a coincidence, huh?" Harper also chuckled nervously.

Melissa just let out a sarcastic laugh.

"I mean, I do not know what happened. You guys just came out of nowhere." Stiles waved his arms about, gesturing towards his luckily undented jeep.

"Came out of nowhere?" Melissa shot back. "We were parked on the side of the road, Stiles."

"How crazy is that?" Stiles scoffed, holding Harper's hand as Peter walked over to them. "We should probably call the cops, do like an accident report thing."

Peter spoke up. "I don't think that's necessary." He spoke way too calm for Stiles and Harper's liking.

"Are you sure?" Harper blurted. "I think I got a little whiplash..."

The teenage girl rubbed the back of her neck and Stiles faked concern, moving his hand to rub her neck for her. He shot Peter a hopeful look.

"Whiplash?" Melissa retorted. "Your boyfriend hit us!"

Harper shook her head. "But my neck!" She whined, like a ten year old trying to get off of school for the day. "It hurts." She faked a sniffle.

Melissa sighed, pushing Harper's hair out of the way to take a closer look.

Harper and Stiles shared looks, both satisfied with what they had just done. They may not have been able to save their own mums, but they sure as hell would be there to save Scott's now.


	24. Chapter 24

"What are you doing?" Rose asked, peering over Harper's shoulder at all of the paper in front of her. "Homework?"

The teenage girl nodded, letting out a sigh of annoyance. Currently she was on her maths homework, which was bad enough, but she had Chemistry homework next, and she was even worse at that.

"Oh, that reminds me. Your science tutor will be over in about thirty minutes." Rose moved away from her granddaughter to clean the kitchen side that she was working at.

Harper looked up from her work, frowning. "You got me a science tutor?" She questioned, almost offended. "I'm averaging a C in Chemistry, an A in Biology and a A in Physics. That's not that bad."

Rose shook her head. "A 'C' isn't good enough, sweet pea. Your dad was a man of science, you know what he would say." She patted Harper's shoulder. "I told you last week that I got you a tutor. You clearly wasn't listening."

"Sorry, I've just had a lot on my plate lately." Harper claimed, flipping over a page in her maths revision guide.

Her grandma just chuckled. "Don't worry."

Harper desperately wanted to ask her grandma what she knew about Empaths, and if she was one herself. But she didn't know how to word it- or what if she thought she was crazy and sent her to that same mental hospital her parents worked and died at?

About half an hour later, the doorbell rang throughout the Verum household, almost making them jump since they had both been so engrossed in what they were doing. Rose jumped up from her seat.

"I'll get it." Rose announced, rushing towards the front door.

Harper heard muffled talking and she sighed, sinking into her seat further. The last thing she wanted was a tutor. She'd rather fail, to be honest. She pulled out her phone and began to text Stiles and Scott in their group chat.

To Scott and Stiles:

Guys, my grandma got me a tutor for science wtf

From Stiles:

I could have tutored you

From Stiles:

Guys! We have bigger things to worry about! Like where the hell Derek went - Scott

Harper frowned at the screen.

To Scott and Stiles:

What happened to him? And why is Scott typing on Stiles' phone and not his own??

From Stiles:

basically

From Stiles:

Derek was on Peter's side and he was gonna kill Jackson and then Scott saved Jackson but the hunters turned up and shot Scott but Deaton saved Scott and Derek is missing and so is Scott's phone and then Peter turned up at the animal clinic and wanted to get Scott

To Scott and Stiles:

All that happened while I was sleeping???

From Stiles:

Basically - Scott

Harper heard muffled talking and footsteps approaching the kitchen where she was.

To Scott and Stiles:

got to go. my tutors here.

From Stiles:

see ya babe <3

Harper smiled, tucking her phone away happily. However, her smile dropped when she looked up and saw who was stood in the door way.

Her heart stopped. She froze.

Peter Hale was her 'tutor'.

...

"Okay, shall we start with mitosis?" Peter read straight from the revision guide, sitting way too close to Harper for her liking.

Rose was sat opposite them, jotting down her weekly shopping list, which was why Peter had to keep the act up. Harper was determined to catch him out in the lie, or make him look like the world's worst tutor so her grandma had no choice but to get rid of him.

"I learned about mitosis when I was twelve." Harper spoke boredly, flipping a page. "Besides, I have an A in Biology. We need to cover Chemistry."

"Right, Chemistry." Peter confirmed smoothly, turning some pages in her book.

Her grandma looked up, setting her pen down on the table. "Right. I'm off to do my food shopping. My contact info is on the fridge in case something is to happen. I'm sure it won't. You two have fun with your chemistry and sister toes."

Harper couldn't bring herself to laugh at her grandma's lame joke, knowing that she was going to be left alone with the Alpha himself was enough to make Harper want to anxiously throw up everywhere. She played with her hands, quietly bidding her grandma a goodbye.

Once the front door closed, Peter turned to face her. "You're mine now, Harper." He ran his hand down her cheek, causing her to tremble in fear. "Werewolf or not, you are my beta. You, Scott, Derek and I will make the most amazing pack, don't you think?"

Harper shook her head, doing her best to look confident. "No, I don't think so." She slammed her chemistry book shut. "You may have bit me, Peter, but that does not make me your beta. I am no one's beta."

Peter shook his head, smiling sarcastically. "You do not want to upset me, Harper. I happen to know more about Empaths than you. You think I wouldn't go to extremes to get you on my side? Because I would."

Harper stood up, the bar stool scraping on the tiled floor from beneath her. "Get out my house." Her bottom lip trembled slightly, but she tried to look confident.

But Peter could hear the pounding of her heart. He could smell her anxiety.

The petite brunette became so angry, her eyes began to glow a soft purple as she glared at him with so much hatred that he entire body shook.

"Get. Out. Of. My. House." She spat, taking a step closer with each word.

She could see her purple eyes glowing in Peter's eyes as he stared at her, a small smirk on his face. Suddenly, his large hand was wrapped around her throat, pulling her feet off of the ground. 

"Unfortunately, an Empath cannot manipulate the thoughts of an Alpha." He growled, slamming her tiny frame up against the wall, causing her to cough loudly.

Her eyes watered as she scrambled to get out of his iron grip, her dainty hands wrapping around his arms as she tried to get him away from her. She chocked and wheezed, feeling herself grow light headed.

"At the winter formal, you will take Lydia Martin onto the lacrosse field where I will be waiting." He told her slowly, both their eyes glowing.

Harper was under his trance, her body drooping as she took in what he was saying. He released her, her body falling to the ground as she tried to keep her eyes open, staring at him in horror.

"I. Would. Never." She chocked out, taking in large gulps of air.

Peter crouched down beside her. "Oh, but you will. Do you know how easy it is to manipulate an Empath? Obviously not." He clicked his fingers together and Harper fell unconscious.

...

"Nothing's wrong, I just have a lot on my mind." Allison sighed as she took the first step up the escalator, Harper and Lydia following on the step behind her.

Lydia raised an eyebrow at her friend. "You could smile, at least." She chirped. "Ever heard the saying, 'Never frown. Someone could be falling in love with your smile'?"

Allison just scoffed, turning away.

"Allison," Harper pinched the taller girl's cheek teasingly. "Smile! I'm buying you a dress, remember."

Harper was broke. Harper was so, so broke- everything she had earned for the past three months had gone towards her dress for the winter formal- and she managed to get herself about a hundred and fifty dollars. But instead of using it on herself, she was going to use it on Allison, as an apology for Scott kissing her.

Even Harper didn't really see the logic behind it. Scott kissed Harper- shouldn't Scott be paying for Allison's dress? But it cheered Allison up so it was worth it, even if she no longer had a dress for the winter formal.

Allison simply rolled her eyes. "Harper, we all know that as soon as you buy me a dress you won't have enough money for your own."

Harper scoffed. "Thanks for reminding me."

Allison ignored her. "That's why I'm not going to take your money, Harps. Instead, I want another favour from you."

Harper cringed, "which is?"

They stepped off of the escalator. "You are going to go and ask your boyfriend to the winter formal, since he is too much of a scaredy cat to do it himself." She pointed over at Stiles.

Stiles was over by the expensive perfume section, testing them all out. He sniffed one before spraying it right in his face, his entire face scrunching up as he recoiled away from it, sneezing and making inhuman noises.

He looked around to make sure nobody noticed before turning back to the perfume, making Harper's heart swell.

"That's my punishment? Going to the winter formal with my own boyfriend?" She raised her arched eyebrows.

Allison sighed, shaking her head. "You didn't kiss him. You didn't even kiss him back. Lydia told me how upset you were afterwards, too. Plus, I know you would never do that to me or Stiles. You're a good person, Harper."

"Allison." Harper teared up a little, wrapping her friend in a hug. "You have no idea how relieved I am that you're not unhappy with me. I've been stressing so-"

Allison pulled away, staring at the shorter girl sternly. "Enough. Go ask your boyfriend out."

Harper grinned, giving Allison's hand one last squeeze before walking over towards Stiles. The teenage boy looked up as she came closer, a cheesy grin crossing his face as he waved awkwardly at her, leaning up against the glass counter.

"Stiles." She grabbed both of his hands, squeezing them in her own. "What are you doing here?"

Stiles rubbed the back of his neck. "Not spying on you to make sure you're safe from Peter, that's for sure." He replied awkwardly.

Harper's face dropped and she looked at Stiles with a completely done expression. "Stiles." Her eyebrows knitted together as she frowned. "I can look after myself."

His eyes suddenly widened. "Can you?" He pointed at the slight bruising around her neck, his entire face quickly becoming frantic. "What happened? Was it Peter? Are you okay?"

Frowning, Harper pulled her phone out of her bag and switched the camera around so she could see herself.

"I don't know how that got there..." She looked back up at him worriedly, her fingers ghosting over the bruises that looked exactly like hand prints.

Stiles ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, well now I'm definitely spying on you to protect you from Peter- or anyone for that matter."

Harper nodded before suddenly becoming nervous, playing with her hands as she looked up at her boyfriend.

"Will you protect me at the dance?" Harper questioned, giving him a nervous smile.

Stiles blushed. "Are you asking me to go to the dance with you?" He leaned against the counter, trying to play cool.

Harper bit her lip, nodding. Before she could even add in another word, Stiles' lips were on hers. She grinned into the kiss, loving how confident Stiles was getting around her when it came to their relationship. Normally she was the one always starting the kisses off, but now it was him, and she couldn't say that she didn't like it.

When they pulled away, they were both grinning. "Yes, I'll go to the dance with you." He grabbed her hand, kissing her knuckles.

Harper quickly grabbed his cheeks, pulling him down to her height and planting a kiss on his nose. "Great! Now you gotta help me with finding a dress for the dance, then."

Stiles smiled, lovestruck. "Anything for you."

...

"Harper, do you really need to try on this many dresses?" Stiles groaned from where he was holding about six dresses.

She had three in her own hands, unable to make up her mind what colour or even type of dress that she wanted. Harper sighed loudly.

"You don't have to help if you don't want to." She spoke innocently, trying to guilt him into staying. "You know, I could just do this by myself."

Stiles just shook his head, following as she walked inside the changing room areas. Stiles collapsed onto one of the couches outside an empty dressing room, the dresses all on top of him. Harper picked up one of the pink, longs ones from the top.

"Be right back." She chirped, walking into her changing room.

She didn't like it. Nor did she like the short, black one or the purple one or the princess one or the cream one. Harper could feel herself getting more and more stressed as she went down the pile until there were only two dresses left.

"Sti, pass me your favourite one out of the last two." She called, hugging her cold body as she stood in her bra and underwear, feeling completely down.

Stiles' hand suddenly came through the curtain, a burgandy dress in his hands. Harper took it and scanned it over. It was a short, sleeveless, fit-and-flare, burgandy dress with a lace embellished bodice and an illusion sweetheart neckline. Accompanying it was a jewel detailed belt.

Smiling lightly, Harper pulled the dress on, pushing her curled hair out of her face so that she could see it clearer. She tried to reach the zip at the back, but with no luck. She contemplated calling Stiles for about a minute before she finally did.

"Stiles? Can you zip my dress up for me?" Harper asked sweetly.

Stiles entered the dressing room, a light blush on his cheeks when he laid eyes on his girlfriend. His eyes were bluging out of their sockets and a grin slowly took place on his face, without him even realising it. His heart was beating quicker than usual, suddenly nervous in front of her.

Harper couldn't help but grin at his reaction. "You like it?" She asked quietly.

Stiles nodded quickly. "I love- I love it." He swallowed nervously, the two of them just staring at each other for a few seconds.

He took a deep breath before his warm, large hands gently grabbed her bare shoulders and turned her around. Harper watched in the mirror as Stiles' hands moved to the zipper. Her heart was pounding in her chest as he carefully touched her back, causing her to shiver.

Stiles smiled.

The boy with the buzz cut began to do the zip up slowly, careful not to break the dress. He had no idea how much it costed, but it looked out of his price range.

Wait, did he have to pay for her dress since he was her boyfriend now? Did he have to pay for one of those flower things that go around the girls wrist?

Stiles had no idea how relationships worked.

Once he had zipped it all the way up, he took a step back, admiring her. Harper turned slightly to her right, running her hands down the skirt of the dress, smoothing the material out. She turned on the other side, doing a little spin.

"What do you think?" Harper asked, her fingers twiddling with the jewelled belt as she watched herself in the mirror, secretly extremely into herself. She just hoped Stiles liked it.

"It's Stiles approved." He confirmed, wrapping his arms around her waist and bending down to lean his head on her shoulder, kissing her neck where it wasn't bruised.

"Yeah?" She smiled softly, her dainty hands brushing against his arms as she held them close to her, watching them both in the mirror.

"Oh definitely."


	25. Chapter 25

"Lydia!" The short brunette whined. "I cut my leg!"

Lydia poked her head into the bathroom while trying to put her earrings on at the same time. She looked at Harper's bare legs as she sat on the bathtub, a razor in her hand. Just under her knee was a red line, blood coming from it.

"Quick, stick some tissue on it. You won't be able to see it in the gym, don't worry." The strawberry blonde tossed a roll of toilet paper at her.

Harper caught it, quickly ripping off some and sticking it to her leg. The blood immediately soaked it up and made it stick there. She began to do the rest of her legs until she was fully bare. The brunette quickly moved into her bedroom where Lydia was putting her dress on.

Harper had just done her makeup, shaved and was about to put her dress on and then do her hair. The girl stood in her bra and her underwear in front of her long mirror, pulling the dress over her head. Lydia did the zip up without her even having to ask.

"Thanks." Harper grinned at her, moving to sit in the chair in front of her desk. "I'll curl the ends of your hair if you do mine in curls."

"All the way?" Lydia asked. Harper heard the beep of the curling iron.

"All the way."

...

After Harper had finished Lydia's hair, they both slipped on their shoes- which Lydia had been so kind as to pay for. The short girls stood a few inches higher, but Harper knew it would barely make a difference when she stood next to Stiles anyway- he was just so tall.

"Wait, Lyds." Harper gently grabbed Lydia's wrist when Lydia moved to leave the bedroom.

Lydia turned around worriedly. "What is it?" She smoothed out her dress. "Is it my hair? Is the headband too much with the belt and the purse?"

Harper chuckled, shaking her head. "No," she moved to her drawers, pulling out 'Ruby Roo', a bright red lipstick from MAC. "Nude lips with a nude dress is just a little bit too much, you know? This would suit you."

Lydia grabbed it from her hands, taking off the cap and twisting it up half way. She held it next to her lips and looked in Harper's mirror.

"You think?" She asked. "Would it suit me?"

Harper nodded, taking it back from the strawberry blonde. She rubbed the nude lipstick off of her lips and carefully began to apply the Mac one. Lydia watched her best friend thankfully.

"You'd be good at that." Lydia smacked her lips together once Harper was done.

Harper raised her eyebrows as she placed the lipstick back in its rightful place. "Good at what?" She chuckled. "Applying lipstick?"

"Being a makeup artist." She replied, rolling her eyes. "You're really good at it."

The brunette's heart swelled at the compliment from Lydia. Lydia didn't give out too many compliments, and when she did it was always 'exceptional' or 'okay, I guess', never a 'really good'.

"Thanks." Harper blushed, but it was unseen under her foundation. "But I want to be more than a makeup artist. I want to do something really special."

Lydia didn't turn around as she began to walk out of the room. "Be the CEO of your own makeup buisness, then. Please, don't waste what you have."

Harper smiled, thinking about it. The CEO of her own buisness. How cool did that sound? Maybe that was aiming a little too high, though.

"Harper!" Lydia yelled from the bottom of the stairs. "Miles is here!"

She rolled her eyes, chuckling a little as she began to make her way down the stairs, being careful not to trip in her heels. When she looked up she was surprised to see how good Stiles really looked. Stiles always looked good anyway, but put the boy in a suit and... wow.

His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open as she walked down the last step. "Wow." Was all he managed to get out, freezing completely.

If he thought she looked good in the changing rooms...

He was blown away right now.

"Wow!" A voice came from the kitchen doorway. "You look so handsome, Stiles." Rose complimented, squeezing his cheek a little as he blushed.

"I agree." Harper mumbled, wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning up a little to give him a peck on the lips.

Stiles blushed deeper, scratching the back of his neck. "Y-You too." He stammered. "Wait, no, not handsome- like really, really pretty. Beautiful even. Gorgeous."

Harper grinned. "You beautiful human." She squeezed his hand.

The doorbell rang and Lydia opened it, revealing her date. Harper inwardly groaned. It was Harry, the guy from the lacrosse team that Lydia made her go on the triple date with.

"You look hot." He told Lydia, leaning down to kiss her.

Lydia scoffed, placing a hand on his chest and pushing him backwards. "I know." She ruffled her hair before coming to stand next to Harper. "Rose, you're on picture duty."

Rose accepted Lydia's phone. "Okay, group photo first. Smile!" She chirped, taking some pictures of all four of them.

Stiles made sure to not look as awkward as possible, wrapping his arms around Harper and making it look as natural as possible. Inwardly, both teenagers were crying.

"Okay, one of Harper and Lydia now." Rose instructed as the boys moved off to the side.

Lydia, being taller than Harper, wrapped her arm around Harper's shoulder, smiling for the picture. Harper grinned too, nailing it. Being best friends with Lydia Martin meant that she had learned how to take good pictures.

Rose took a couple of pictures of Lydia and Harry before she moved onto Stiles and Harper. They took really cheesy pictures and cute pictures, on Rose's phone, Stiles' phone and Harper's phone.

Stiles accepted his phone back from Harper's grandma, looking down at the pictures and smiling fondly. He quickly set his favourite one- the one where he and Harper were just looking at each other with so much admiration that it made his heart swell - as the background of his phone.

"Off we go then." Harper grabbed Stiles' hand, lifting it up to her lips and pressing a kiss there.

Tonight was going to be so good.

...

Stiles climbed out of the jeep, or more like fell out of it, as soon as he pulled up in the parking lot at school. He quickly scrambled around the vehicle and onto Harper's side, opening the door for her. It squeaked wide open, causing Harper to giggle.

She accepted Stiles' hand as he helped her out of the high car with her heels on. They intertwined fingers as Lydia and Harry walked over, Lydia smoothing out her dress for the hundreth time that night. Harper knew she wanted to make Jackson jealous tonight.

Jackson and Allison then walked over, both looking like they'd rather be dead than at this dance. Harper couldn't help but have a good feeling about tonight though.

"Jackson." Lydia forced a smile.

Harper turned away, feeling Stiles tap on her shoulder. "Look." He pointed up onto the roof of the school building where Scott was, stalking around in his suit.

"What is he doing?" Harper groaned, letting out a small laugh. "How did he even get up there?"

Stiles chuckled. "He's a werewolf, duh."

"Who's a werewolf?" Allison quickly snapped, her eyes wide and she looked frantic. Like she knew something...

Harper and Stiles both froze. "Um, Edward from Twilight." Stiles lied quickly.

"He's the vampire..." Lydia raised her eyebrows, crossing her arms across her chest.

The short girl laughed, fake slapping Stiles' arm. "Ha! See, I told you Edward was the vampire and not the werewolf..." Her acting skills finally came in handy as she grabbed Stiles' arm, dragging him towards the school without another word. "Did you see the look on Allison's face?" She hissed.

Stiles patted her arm gently. "Don't worry about it tonight, Harps. Tonight is a no-supernatural night. Just me, you, and a bunch of sweaty high school kids."

"Great." Harper sighed.

...

Upbeat music played throughout the gym, multi-coloured lights casting all over the large room as teenagers danced everywhere. Harper was surprised at how well the school had decorated the place. It actually looked really good.

As the live music played, Harper and Stiles stood around in a group with Lydia, Harry and some other people- a few from the lacrosse team, and a couple of Harper's class-friends. Class-friends meaning people she would only ever hang out with at school.

Harper smiled as Stiles came over with a cup of coke for her, taking a sip of his own. She would have thanked him but the music was so loud. She turned her head towards the stage, her eyes falling on Peter Hale himself.

"Harper!" Stiles hissed, pulling her arm away from the group of people. "Your eyes just flashed purple!"

The British girl blinked quickly, turning back to where she thought she had saw Peter. Nobody was there. It was just her mind playing tricks on her. Great.

Harper winced. "Sorry!" She yelled over the music.

Stiles just sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Do you wanna dance?" He yelled after a few moments, pointing his thumb in the direction of the dance floor.

Harper thought about it for a second before nodding. A distraction is just what she needed to stop her from thinking about Peter Hale for a few minutes.

The teenage boy wrapped his arms around her waist, fist bumping the air as he lead her to the dance floor. Harper giggled at his excitement, her heart skipping a beat as they began to dance just like they had at Jackson's party the night that they found out Scott was a werewolf.

"McCall!" Finstock suddenly yelled from across the hall, causing both Harper and Stiles to look at each other with a knowing look. "I see you! Come here, buddy."

"McCall!"

Harper watched as Scott quickly rushed down the bleachers, Coach Finstock yelling at teenagers to move out of the way as he pushed his way through the crowd, trying to get to Scott.

Scott had been banned from the dance because his grades were low. Apparently it was either no dance or no lacrosse, so of course Coach had picked no dance.

"Get out of my way! McCall! It's a small gym, buddy. I'm gonna find you." Coach Finstock yelled as Scott suddenly pushed past Stiles and Harper, sending them both a wink which they laughed at.

She watched out of the corner of her eye as Scott quickly grabbed Danny, wrapping his arms around his neck and forcing him up onto the dance floor. Danny looked utterly confused and violated but wrapped his arms around Scott's waist loosely anyway.

"McCall! You're not supposed to..." Coach froze when he saw the position that Scott was in, frowning. "What the hell are you..."

The entire gym went silent. Even the band stopped playing to see what was going on. Because to anybody that didn't know what was going on, it looked like Coach was yelling at Scott and Danny for dancing together.

"What the hell are you doing?" Coach sounded defeated.

"Yes, Coach?" Scott frowned, moving closer to Danny.

Harper snorted as everybody glared at Coach Finstock, who held his hands up in defence, chuckling nervously.

"Okay... Hold on, you... I was just saying he's not supposed to... I mean, I wasn't saying he shouldn't..." He began making hand actions. "You guys don't think... You don't... I... I was... Just dance, everybody! Just dance! It's a dance! It's a party!" He began to laugh.

Harper giggled, turning back to her boyfriend as a slow song began to play. Stiles ducked his head into Harper's neck and Harper had her arms around him, leaning her head against his shoulder. He had his hands placed firmly on her waist.

All of a sudden, it was like something clicked in Harper. She felt an urge. The urge to take Lydia somewhere. The lacrosse field. She had no idea why, but she needed to do it. Stiles noticed how she was looking around and pulled away.

"You okay?" He asked, concerned.

"Stiles... I have to go." She pulled away completely from him.

Stiles frowned at her. "What are you talking about?"

"To the bathroom." She quickly said and Stiles sighed in relief. "With Lydia."

"With Lydia?" He frowned.

"It's a girl thing. Never go to the bathroom alone." She leaned up to peck his cheek. "I'll be back, okay?"

"Okay." He nodded.

Harper moved across the hall, finding Lydia walking around aimlessly. "Harper, have you seen Jackson?" She asked worriedly. "I can't find him anywhere."

Harper nodded. "I saw him on the lacrosse field."

...

"Where is he?" Lydia mumbled, rubbing her arms to warm herself up as Harper took her into the middle of the field. "I thought you said he was here?"

Harper suddenly began to blink rapidly, her body falling to the ground in front of Lydia for the second time in the past week. Lydia screeched, bending down to help her best friend when the lights started to light up- one by one.

A figure began to come out from behind the trees, their face blinded by the lights. "Jackson!" Lydia shrieked. "You need to help! Harper... she just... she..."

"Harper! Lydia!" Lydia heard Stiles scream. "Harper!"

Lydia whirled around, tears in her eyes as Stiles ran towards them as fast as he could. When Lydia turned around she was met with a man that certainly was not Jackson Whittemore.

"Don't worry." He grabbed Lydia's arm. "Harper's going to be just fine."

And then suddenly he opened his mouth, massive fangs on display as he roared. Lydia didn't even have time to scream before everything went black.


	26. Chapter 26

Harper came to when she heard the sound of a scoff and then silence. Well, silence other than the noise of a car driving and the squeaking of metal. She automatically knew that she was laying across the backseats of the jeep. Stiles' jeep.

The girl groaned, feeling an intense pain in her head. It was as if her entire body was on fire and a nail was being forced into the back of her skull. Harper wanted to throw up from the sensation, her stomach was aching and her throat felt sore.

The car jolted from beneath her. "Harper?" A frantic voice came. Stiles' frantic voice.

"Don't stop driving." A forceful voice came.

Harper knew it was Peter's, and his voice only seemed to add to the pain in her head. Her brown eyes flickered open and she tried to remember what had happened. The last thing she remembers is dancing with Stiles.

Her head rested on his chest, one of his hands tangled in her perfectly curled hair as she swayed to the beat of the overplayed music with him. She had never felt so comfortable and safe in somebodies arms, and yet it was all over within minutes.

"Sti," Harper muttered, forcing herself to sit up slightly.

Her petite frame leaned against the side of the car, beads of sweat stuck to her forehead as she panted slightly, feeling so sick. It felt like she was going to pass out again, the pain so intense that she had to shut her eyes again for a second.

"Harper are you okay?!"

Harper didn't reply because it felt like she couldn't. In fact, she couldn't. Her lips literally felt like they had been sewn together, forbidding her from uttering a single word or making another noise. She panicked, shooting up in her seat, only for Peter to send her a smirk through the mirror.

"What-" Stiles looked over at Peter briefly before looking back at the road. "Stop that! What are you doing to her?"

Peter just sat back, that annoyingly calm smirk printed on his face. "I have control over the Empath."

Stiles' face scrunched up in anger and confusion. "What does that even mean!?"

Harper wanted to know too, but of course she couldn't ask, since apparently Peter wasn't letting her talk. She tried to remain as calm as possible, but it was hard knowing a pyschotic killer-alpha was controlling her.

Peter chuckled. "You guys clearly didn't do all of your research."

Harper shot him a look that basically meant 'piss off'.

"Someone with enough power can control an Empath. It takes a special connection to do so. I bit Harper, so we automatically have one." Peter explained extremely monotone. "I can give her commands, manipulate her emotions, you guys Google the rest."

Stiles glared at him. "I don't suppose you'll tell us how to disconnect her from you?" He spat sarcastically, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the steering wheel so hard.

Stiles had never felt so much hatred for one person. Or thing. All he wanted was for his girlfriend to be okay and for Peter to leave so that they could live a normal life. Well, as normal as werewolves and empaths get.

"That's for the Empath to work out herself." He took a glance back at the teenage girl.

Her eyes were half closed, feeling herself slip out of conciousness once again.

"Harper, you need to stay awake, babe." Stiles ran a spare hand through his buzz cut, but Harper didn't last another second.

☹☻

Harper was aware of her surroundings again when she felt arms around her and somebody carrying her somewhere. The sound of an elevator pinging and then opening filled her ears before she felt the person take her somewhere else quickly.

"Can somebody help?" Stiles, the person carrying her, yelled frantically. "Something's wrong with my girlfriend!"

"Stiles!" Harper heard Sheriff Stilinski hiss as his footsteps came over. "What the hell happened!?"

"I-my- I lost the key- I lost the keys to the jeep and I had to run all the way here-" It hurt Harper to hear him stammer and sound so broken.

"Stiles, I don't care!" Sheriff suddenly yelled. "What happened to Harper?"

Stiles sniffled as somebody took Harper's body away from him. The last thing she head before she lost conciousness again was Stiles talking.

"I- I ran with her in my arms for three miles, dad. I just want her to be o-okay. I love her."

☹☻

Harper jolted awake, gasping for air. Arms immediately wrapped around her, pulling her into their embrace. The young brunette sobbed loudly, clinging to her boyfriend's chest, salty tears casading down her pale cheeks.

"Shh, I've got you. I've got you." Stiles mumbled, stroking her hair as he held her close. "It's okay. It's okay."

Harper continued to cry, no signs of calming down any time soon. Stiles let her cry on him, just relieved that she had actually woken up. The doctor's had told everybody that she collapsed since she was showing signs of sickness- a temperature, pale skin.

They had no idea that it was because she had been being controlled by an alpha. Stiles researched it and apparently these were side effects. It took a lot of effort to control an Empath, and a special bond between the two people.

In order for the Empath to break the connection, the controller either has to die or give the Empath up. Extremely strong Empaths can break the connection simply by thinking about it, but since Harper was possibly the only Empath left in the world, she didn't exactly have a teacher.

Stiles had done a lot of reading while Harper was unconcious to distract him from the anxiety that he was feeling. He found out that Harper can create a barrier in her mind if she tries hard enough that will stop her from ever being controlled again.

Harper's connection with Peter had been broken when he died. After Derek had been freed, Allison had found out that Scott was a werewolf, and Kate Argent got her throat slit by Peter, they had all managed to take down the alpha. But Derek had been the one to actually kill him.

Derek was the alpha now.

Harper sniffled. "I remember Peter strangling me and telling me what to do." She chocked on a sob, hiding in Stiles' chest.

Stiles' eyebrows furrowed together angrily. "He's gone now, Harps. You don't have to worry about him anymore."

The brunette looked up at him, her brown eyes red. "Is- is Lydia okay?"

Stiles nodded, stroking some of her hair out of her face. "She's going to be okay." He whispered, leaning down and planting a kiss on her forehead. "You scared me, Harps."

"I'm sorry." Harper croaked.

Stiles shook his head, chuckling. "Don't apologise, please." He squeezed her hand gently. "The last thing I want is for you to feel guilty or upset. I'm just so glad that you're okay."

"Me too." Harper pulled his hand to her lips, kissing his knuckles.

"Harper?" Stiles stared down at her hopefully, his heart beating quickly as she looked up at him.

"I love you." They both stared at each other in shock, their open mouths turning into wide grins as they began to laugh happily, holding each other close.

"We said it at the exact same time!" Harper grinned, giggling.

Stiles laughed loudly, feeling happier than he had in ages. "Hell yeah we did! Cause great minds think alike."

"Dork." Harper reached up to ruffle his hair.

Stiles grinned. "Yeah, but I'm your dork." He gently grabbed her hand from his head, intertwining their fingers.

"You're cheesy, too." Harper mumbled, leaning forwards, her eyes flickering to his lips.

"I'm your cheesy." Stiles sneered jokingly, dipping his head down a little so they were closer together.

"You're gross, Stilinski." She raised an eyebrow.

"I love you too, Verum."

And with that, he pressed his lips against hers.


	27. Chapter 27

Harper Verum and Stiles Stilinski had been inseperable since the moment she had woken up in her hospital room, the pair of teenagers completely bathing in their honeymoon phase. Ever since those three magic words had escaped either of their lips, they had been like broken records-- feeling the urge to repeat them again and again and again. 

Softly, happily, gently... Stiles was pretty sure he would never get used to hearing Harper tell him that she loved him in a way that wasn't platonic or sisterly. Never in a million years did he think he would ever get her to fall in love with him. The hazel-eyed boy was pretty sure that if he could go back and tell his twelve-year-old self what he'd be doing in the future then Younger Stiles would have a heart attack. 

Now, she was sat up in her hospital bed in front of him. He decided that she looked as beautiful as ever, her skin a little paler than usual, her dark hair left natural and tucked behind her ears. The hospital gown she was wearing was a little big and it looked like it was swallowing her whole from where she sat cross-legged. 

His large hand traced one of the bruises on her bare knees, slender fingers giving it a squeeze when Harper looked up from her phone with a small smile. She put the device down on the mattress and leaned forwards, meeting Stiles half way in a short kiss. 

"Anything from your grandma?" Stiles asked, jerking his head towards her mobile phone. 

"No. Nothing," Harper sighed. "Your dad's going over to mine to check on her, right?"

"Right," Stiles nodded, pressing a small kiss to her forehead. "I'm sure she's fine. She probably just forgot she has a phone or something."

Harper giggled a little, but it didn't stop the pit of worry at the bottom of her stomach. She'd been at the hospital overnight as well as Lydia Martin, recovering from what had happened to her on the field. Melissa insisted that it was most likely from the shock of seeing Lydia get bitten by an animal and that she had hit her head on the way down, which that part was true. 

Rose Verum had yet to answer her phone. She thought Harper was supposed to be sleeping at Lydia's that night anyway, but it had been more than twenty-four hours. It was night again now, and nobody had heard from Rose. Not when Melissa called, or the hospital, or Harper. 

Sheriff Stilinski was heading to the Verum household to check up on her and bring her to Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital, where her granddaughter was anxiously awaiting her so she could sign for Harper's release. 

Stiles sighed contently, shifting in the leather chair he sat in.He smoothed his hand around Harper's knee absentmindedly, his hazel eyes focusing on the wall behind her as he thought about everything that had gone down with Peter Hale. 

"How's Lydia?" Harper asked, annoyed that she hadn't been able to leave her hospital room yet since she woke up. 

"Still the same as the last time I checked up on her, Harps," Stiles chuckled a little, although he did feel bad since it was obvious Harper was really worried about her friend. "She's awake and her dad's there, so I didn't really want to interfere."

"I can't believe her bite isn't healing like Scott's..." Harper muttered under her breath, shaking her head in confusion as she thought about their entire messed up situation. 

The couple remained in a comfortable silence for a few minutes until Stiles spoke up, "Hey, I'm gonna go and get some candy from the vending machine down the hall. Do you want anything?"

Harper peered up at him through her long lashes. "Can I come with you?" She asked, stretching her legs out in front of her. "I haven't even left this stupid hospital bed yet."

Stiles' eyebrows furrowed together. "Are you allowed out of the hospital room yet?" He questioned, sitting up straight.

The petite girl shook her head. "No... But I'm fine and you know I'm fine, so who cares?" She gave him an overly enthusiastic smile.

The Stilinski boy considered it for a second before shrugging. "As long as you don't go fainting on me again." He replied, helping her out of the bed.

Harper's legs felt numb as soon as she stood, falling forwards and into Stiles' chest. His large hands immediately gripped her arms, keeping her steady she wouldn't fall over. He kept her close to him while she regained her balance.

"Hey, Stiles." Harper began to snicker before she had even finished her joke, "I fell for you."

Stiles shook his head, chuckling. "And you call me a dork." He teased, wrapping his arm with hers and then holding her hand, intertwining their fingers.

She leaned her head on his arm, giggling. "You are a dork. Adorkable."

Stiles rolled his eyes, smiling happily. He had never felt so lucky as he walked down the hallway of the hospital, his girlfriend clutched to his side as she fed him bad jokes and punny compliments.

They stopped at the vending machine, Stiles yawning as his hand reached into the pocket of his jean trousers, searching for some spare change. He dug out a few pennies, putting them in the machine and punching in the numbers he wanted.

"What do you want?" He asked.

Harper scanned the vending machine. "I'll pass, thanks. I don't really feel like chocolate."

Stiles shrugged, pressing enter on the machine. The Reeces began to come out but got stuck at the end, wedged so it wouldn't come out. Harper and Stiles both sighed in unison, Stiles a little more annoyed.

"Seriously? Come..." He muttered, pressing the button a few more times.

He hit the glass with his spare hand, trying to make it fall out. Nothing happened, much to the hungry boys dismay. Harper pressed the button a couple of times for him, but the chocolate wouldn't budge.

"Maybe we should get Melissa..." Harper suggested, but Stiles had already let go of her to shake the vending machine.

Harper watched with raised eyebrows as he wrapped his entire body around it, shifting up and down awkwardly. He let out grunts, his face squashed against the glass. His face scrunched up in annoyance when it didn't work, his hands wrapping around the top of the machine. Stiles gave it one last shake before the whole thing toppled forwards.

The brunette shrieked quietly as Stiles pulled her back and away from it. The glass shattered around it, creating a loud thudding noise that echoed across the hospital. Both the teenagers looked around worriedly to see if anybody was coming.

Harper suddenly felt a surge of panic rush through her, like it was ripping her apart. The brunette knew what was happening almost immediately, rushing forwards to the room where she just knew the panic was coming from.

Lydia's room.

"Harper?" Stiles called after her, "where are you-"

An ear piercing scream suddenly ripped through the hospital, Harper's entire body freezing up as she felt Lydia's terror. Stiles was by her side in seconds.

"Was that-"

"Lydia." Harper whimpered before taking off in the direction of the scream.

Stiles ran beside her as they barged in the room right behind Melissa and Lydia's dad. Harper ripped open the door to the bathroom and swiped open the shower curtain, only to reveal nothing. The shower was empty, void of the teenage girl who had been in it seconds before. 

Melissa reached forwards, turning off the tap.

Harper's teary eyes ripped away from where her best friend had been just minutes ago, looking across at the open window where the cool night air was coming through from.

Where had Lydia gone?

...

Harper looked up when her hospital room door opened, her eyes widening when she saw her grandma walk in, a mixture of worry and guilt on her face. Stiles didn't stop stroking her back comfortingly. Harper had been a complete mess since Lydia had taken off, the guilt of not being their for her friend setting in.

"Harper, my dear." Rose moved forwards, clasping her granddaughter's hand. "What's happened?"

"Where were you, grandma?" Harper mumbled, upset, "the hospital called you so many times, so did Noah, Melissa, Stiles, and me."

Rose began to tear up. "I am so, so sorry, sweet pea. I fell asleep and my phone was downstairs and I- oh gosh, I'm just so, so sorry. Sheriff Stilinski foun- woke me."

Both teenagers could tell that what Rose was saying wasn't the full truth, which definitely confused Harper a lot. Why would her grandma ignore the phone? None of it made sense to her, and she didn't want to break down in front of her.

It was Harper's turn to be disappointed in her grandma. After all, even Lydia's dad had turned up to the hospital! 

Harper nodded, swallowing thickly. "Can you sign me out? Stiles is gonna take me home now."

Rose closed her eyes momentarily, feeling her heart sink. "O-of course." She hesitated before letting go of Harper's hand, "I'll see you back home, I guess."

The old woman left the room and Harper sighed, running a hand through her hair. "You could tell that she was lying too, right?"

Stiles nodded from beside her sceptically. "Yeah... But I'm sure she had a good reason?"

Harper shook her head. "Doesn't matter. We have bigger things to deal with." The teenage girl climbed off of the bed and pulled Lydia's hospital gown out from where she had tucked it under the shirt she had changed into. 

"Starting with Lydia."

...

Harper climbed into the back seat of Stiles' jeep, handing Scott the hospital gown on her way in. The werewolf looked down at the bunched up material in his hands, looking it over.

"This is the one she was just wearing?" He asked as Harper buckled up, nodding sadly, "I'm not gonna let anyone hurt her." He looked straight into Harper's eyes. "Not again."

Harper nodded. "Okay, now sniff the thing and let's try and find her." She ordered, trying to sound confident so that her voice didn't crack and she didn't break down into tears again.

The engine roared to life and Stiles flipped on the head lights, letting out a strangled noise when Allison suddenly appeared in front of them. She was dressed in a long winter coat and had a beanie on, her nose red from the cold. Scott looked just as surprised to see her as the couple did.

"What are you doing here?" Scott frowned as Allison moved over to the window, "someone's gonna see us."

Apparently, while having a heated makeout session in the front of Allison's car, Allison's dad had ripped Scott out of it and held a gun straight to his face. If the couple ever saw each other again then he vowed to kill Scott himself, despite the hunter code.

"I don't care- she is my best friend, and we need to find her before they do." Allison spoke determinedly.

Scott leaned forwards, his voice low, "I can find her before the cops can."

"How about before my father does?"

"He knows?" Stiles asked while Harper inwardly groaned, closing her eyes momentarily as she let reality sink in.

"Yeah." Allison nodded, her eyebrows furrowed together in concern, "I just saw him and three other guys leave my house in two SUVs."

Scott turned to face the two teenagers in the jeep. "Search party," He muttered, disbelief written all over his face.

Harper scoffed, "more like hunting party."

Scott opened the door, "get in."

Allison climbed into the back of the jeep beside Harper, giving her a small smile. Harper weakly returned it, feeling far too anxious to be happy. She could feel everybody else's anxiety radiating off of them and it was making her feel a little queasy.

"You okay?" Allison reached down and grabbed Harper's hand in her gloved one, instantly warming the shorter girl up.

Stiles pulled out of the parking space, the tires of the jeep screeching as he took off down the main road. The headlights shown on the road in front of him, the only way he could see in the complete darkness that surrounded them.

Harper nodded, swallowing thickly. "They won't kill her if she's turning, right?"

Allison sighed loudly, "I don't know. They won't tell me anything. All they say is 'we'll talk after Kate's funeral when the other's get here'."

Stiles frowned, "what others?"

Allison shook her head, letting go of Harper's hand to rest her head on it. "I don't know, they won't tell me that, either."

"Okay, sounds like your family has some serious communication issues to work on." Stiles muttered sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Harper glanced across at Scott to see why he had been being so quiet, only to find that the werewolf had stuck his upper body out of the window as he sniffed the air like a dog. She would laugh if she wasn't feeling so bad.

"Scott, are we going the right way?" The Stilinski boy yelled, not taking his eyes off of the road.

Scott cocked his head, sniffing loudly. "Take the next right!" He yelled back over the sound of the rushing wind.

...

Harper's hand was in Stiles' as they slowly walked up to the Hale house. The brunette could hear insects buzzing throughout the woods and the sounds of Allison and Scott walking behind them, their steps crunching the twigs and leaves that they walked on.

The cold was starting to get to her as she shivered in her jogging bottoms and oversized t-shirt. Everybody else had coats on, but Scott hadn't brought her one when he delivered her clothes to the hospital. Harper couldn't bring herself to care too much, she was more worried about a certain strawberry blonde.

"Are you sure she came here, Scott?" Harper questioned, not exactly having much faith in the werewolf.

Scott nodded. "Yeah, this is where the scent leads." He sounded so sure.

Stiles sighed. "Has Lydia ever come here before?" He looked between his girlfriend and Allison.

"Not with me, " Allison replied, Harper nodding along with her. "Maybe she came here on instinct, like she was looking for Derek," Allison mumbled quietly to Scott, though the couple in the front could still hear them.

Scott paused momentarily, a regretful look on his face. "You mean... looking for an alpha."

"Wolves need a pack, right?" Allison replied, a little louder.

The werewolf thought about himself. "Not all of them." He shrugged.

Allison pressed further, "but would she have been drawn to an alpha? Is it an instinct to be part of a pack?"

Scott nodded. "Yeah, yeah. We're stronger in packs."

"Like strength in numbers."

"No, like- like, literally," Scott corrected her, "stronger, faster, better in every way."

"That the same for an alpha?"

Harper stopped listening into the couple's conversation when Stiles began walking over to something near the ground. She followed close behind, peering over his shoulder as he looked at what appeared to be a trip wire.

"Oo, hey, look at this, " he called to Allison and Scott, his fingers barely touching the wire strung from the bottom of one tree to another. "You see this?"

Allison walked over, crouching down beside him. "I think it's a tripwire." 

He lifted it up, and suddenly there was a noise from behind him. Harper whirled around, not knowing whether to laugh or be scared at the sight of Scott dangling from one of the trees.

"Stiles?" Scott snapped.

"Yeah buddy?" Stiles and Allison turned around, their eyes widening when they saw the state that the werewolf was in. "Oh."

Scott glared at him. "Next time you see tripwire..." He paused to give him a look. "Don't trip it."

Allison was trying not to laugh from behind Stiles, a smile on her face for the first time that night. Stiles nodded quickly.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," Scott quickly hissed, stopping the three teenagers from coming over to release him from the trap. "Someone's coming. Hide. Go!"

Allison quickly darted backwards and Stiles grabbed a hold of Harper, quickly pulling her back to where young Argent was going. They hid behind a large bush just in time before Harper heard footsteps approaching Scott and then a loud sigh.

"Scott?" The deep voice belonged to Allison's father, Chris Argent.

"Mr Argent."

"How are you doing?"

"Good. You know, just hangin' out."

Stiles quickly put his hand over Harper's mouth before she could laugh, knowing fully well that his girlfriend laughed at most of Scott's lame puns. Sure enough, when he glanced across at her she was trying to stifle giggles against his palm.

"Is this one of yours?" Scott asked, his voice a little strained from being upside down. "It's, uh, good. Nice design. Very constricting."

Chris Argent clearly didn't find it funny. "What are you doing out here, Scott?" He questioned.

"Looking for my friend." The werewolf's voice came out softer.

Argent tutted, "ah, that's right. Lydia's in your group now, isn't she? Part of the clique? Is that the word you use? Or is there another way to put it? Part of your pack?"

There was an eerie silence for a couple of seconds before Scott replied, "actually, clique sounds about right to me."

"I hope so," Chris responded. "Cause I know she's a friend of Allison's, and one special circumstance, such as yourself- one I can handle." He shook his head. "Not two."

There was more silence as Scott whispered something that Harper couldn't hear from over behind the bush. Stiles had taken his hand off of her mouth a few seconds ago, peering through the thick leaves to get a good look. Allison was also trying to do the same, but Harper wasn't going to risk it.

She was even more clumsy than Stiles at times, so knowing her she would trip and fall straight into the bush, exposing all of them. Argent would shoot Scott for being with Allison, he might think that they were hiding Lydia. So many things could go wrong.

"Scott, do you know what a hemicorporectomy is?"

Scott muttered back, "I have a feeling I don't want to."

"A medical term for amputating somebody at the waist. Cutting them in half. Takes a tremendous amount of strength to cut through tissue and bone like that." Argent reached up, mimicking slicing Scott in half with his hand without touching him. "Let's hope a demonstration never becomes necessary."

With that, he stood up from his crouched position and began to walk away, two (or three, Harper couldn't see too clearly), of his fellow hunters following close behind him. As soon as they were gone, Scott let out a deep sigh of relief and the teenagers scrambled up to go and help him.

"You okay?" Allison asked, looking down at him.

Scott huffed, "it's just another life-threatening conversation with your dad."

Allison rushed over to where the trap had been tied to another end of the tree. "Stiles, Harper, help me with this."

The three teenagers began to try and figure out how to get it undone, only to hear the swipe of claws and the thudding of feet seconds later. Harper turned and saw Scott stood back up straight, panting a little.

"Thanks," he grinned cockily. "But I think I got it."


	28. Chapter 28

"She ate the liver?" Scott glanced at Stiles and Harper, a look of disgust on his face as they began to walk into the school building.

It was Monday morning and everybody knew about what had happened at the school dance last Friday night. Well, they knew bits.

Everybody thought that Lydia and Harper had been attacked by an animal, however, Lydia worse than Harper.

All of Beacon Hills knew that Lydia was somewhere running around naked in the woods, and people were already talking about her. She was officially the school's freak- even worse than Greenburg.

Stiles shook his head, "no, I didn't say she ate it. I just said it was missing. And you know what? Even if she did, so what? It's the most nutritious part of the body."

Harper was so thankful for her boyfriend. He knew that Harper didn't particularly want to talk about the disspearance of her best friend since she felt so guilty for being the one to, unconsciously, take her onto the field. That was why he was speaking for the both of them, most of the time.

"I never ate anyone's liver." Scott mumbled.

"Yeah, right, cause when it comes to werewolves, you're a real model of self control." Stiles muttered sarcastically, rolling his whiskey eyes.

Suddenly, he paused, turning around. "Wait, hold on- you're the test case for this, so we should be going over what happened to you."

Scott gave Stiles a doubtful look. "What do you mean?"

Harper butted in, "he means what was going through your mind when you were changing. What were you drawn to?"

The werewolf didn't even have to think about it for more than a second before a cheesy grin took over on his face. Harper already knew what was coming just from that look.

"Allison." Her name fell so softly from his lips.

"Nothing else?" Harper groaned. "Seriously?"

"Nothing else mattered." Scott sighed blissfully. "But, no, that's good though, right? Cause the night that Lydia was bit she was with you, Harps."

Harper rolled her eyes, "I'm the one that took her on that stupid field." Her throat felt tight from all of the guilt that she was feeling. "I bloody caused all of this."

Tears stung her eyes as Stiles' hand went to the small of her back in a comforting gesture. "You were being controlled by Peter, there's nothing any of us could have done about it. It's his fault, and his fault only."

Scott nodded from in front of them, a sympathetic look on his face when he saw how stressed the teenage girl in front of him looked. Only then did he notice how she smelled of anxiety, and how she hadn't even bothered with makeup that day- the dark circles under her golden brown eyes prominent.

"Let's get to chemistry." Scott changed the subject. "Harris will give us a detention if we're even a second late."

Stiles and Harper groaned in unison.

...

A test paper was smacked down on the desk in front of Harper, snapping her out of her dazed state. She looked up at Mr Harris as he put a test paper in front of Isaac Lahey, who was sat right next to her.

"Ms Verum, if you need to leave the class at any point, please let me know." Harris spoke quietly, surprising her and everybody else in the class.

Harper swallowed nervously, nodding to him as she began to write her name at the top of the paper. Mr Harris went to stand back in front of his desk just as Harper heard Scott and Stiles, but mainly Stiles, talking to each other.

Unluckily for her, she couldn't make out what they were saying, but she guessed it was something to do with Lydia and the whole liver situation. Apparently, last night Isaac had been working at the graveyard and he saw someone, or something, eat the liver from a grave.

She only knew this because Sheriff Stilinski had to interview him about it, so of course Stiles knew.

"This is a pop quiz, Mr Stilinski. If I hear your voice again, I may be tempted to give you detention for the rest of your high school career." Mr Harris' dull toned voice carried out from across the classroom, interrupting any conversation that the two teenage boys had been having.

Stiles' eyes widened a little, "can you do that?"

"Well, there it is again. Your voice. Triggering the only impulse I've ever had to strike a student repeatedly and violently." Mr Harris droned on. "I'll see you at three for detention."

Some people in the room snickered while Harper shot Harris a dirty look, which of course he didn't see. Stiles' mouth was hung open and Scott turned to look at him, raised eyebrows.

"You too, Mr McCall?"

Scott turned back around, shaking his head. "No, sir." He replied.

Harper suddenly felt a dull ache in her nose, the sensation stinging a little as she turned back around to write on her test paper. As soon as her pen touched the paper, a black liquid substance dripped from her nose, landing straight on the question.

Heart beating rapidly, she pinched her nose with her fingers and put her hand up quickly. Mr Harris simply looked up and nodded, and with that, Harper had run out of the room.

"Not you too, Mr Stilinski." She heard their chemistry teacher yell as she rushed out of the classroom, her entire body thumping with nerves and pain, "McCall, sit back down! You're already failing this class!"

She opened the doors to the girls bathroom, sliding inside as quickly as she could and going straight over to the sinks. Luckily nobody else was in the bathrooms except for Harper. Harper grabbed some tissues, trying to soak up the black blood coming from her nose as quickly as she could.

The door burst open and Harper was not surprised to see her very worried looking boyfriend stood there. As soon as he saw the state that she was in, Stiles dashed forwards, holding the small of her back and her cheek as he titled her head up.

"I didn't know you got nosebleeds." Stiles frowned.

Harper shook her head, "this isn't a nosebleed."

"Jackson left straight after you did."

Harper swallowed thickly. "Then this is because of him."

She turned to her side, looking in the mirror. The black substance was now dripping from her ears and her nose, a never ending cycle as she pressed tissues to where she could. Stiles helped her the best he could, humming softly to stop her slight panicking and dabbing the tissues against her ears.

Harper groaned. "What does this even mean?"

"For you? Most likely nothing. For Jackson?" Stiles paused, tapping his foot nervously. "I have no idea."

...

Harper slammed her locker door shut, almost shrieking when she came face to face with Matt, the slightly creepy guy from her German class. He leaned against the locker beside hers, a smile on his face that honestly looked more like a smirk.

"Hey." Matt chimed.

The brunette forced a smile, "hi, Matt."

He pulled his hands out from behind his back, revealing a bouquet of red roses. "These are for you." He announced, practically shoving them into her hands. "I didn't get to see you in the hospital, so..."

Harper accepted them, a small smile on her face now. "Thank you, Matt. That's really... sweet."

Matt just grinned back at her. "Yeah... So, are you going with Allison to her aunt's funeral tonight?"

Harper was a little taken aback by his straight forward question. She didn't know why he wanted to know, or why he even cared.

"No." She replied. "Allison said that it's close family only. Why?"

Matt shrugged, "no reason."

The brunette still looked sceptical as she nodded slowly. "Okay... Well, I have to go now. Stiles is driving me home."

"Stiles?" He repeated. Harper didn't like his tone.

"Yeah, Stiles, my boyfriend." Harper emphasized, swinging her backpack over her shoulder. "See you soon."

"Bye." Matt replied sourly before he scoured away down the hall.

...

Harper peeked her head around the large head stone just in time to see an old man grab Matt's camera. Scott was crouched underneath her, watching Allison worriedly. She couldn't hear from here, but she knew that he was talking to Matt calmly.

Now she knew why he had asked if she was going to Kate's funeral.

Paparazzi and news reporters watched from behind the barriers in confusion, clicking pictures and murmuring as the old man took something out of Matt's camera, crushing it in his hands and letting it crumble to the ground. He gave Matt his camera back and Matt went back behind the barriers.

The old man approached Chris Argent, greeting him with a short hug. Harper wished she could hear what they were saying as the man moved on to greet Victoria Argent with two kisses on the cheek. Just as he turned to face Allison, a loud noise came from behind Scott and Harper, making her jump.

"Yo." Stiles whispered, placing his hands on Harper's shoulders as he tried to look across at the funeral too. "Who the hell's that?" He gestured towards the old man.

As if he had heard Stiles, he looked over in their direction. Scott quickly turned away, grabbing Harper's wrist and moving her behind him as Stiles fell behind the head stone. Her heartbeat quickened up, worried that he had seen them.

"He's definitely an Argent." Scott muttered, not looking back.

When they finally peeked back around the stone, the mysterious man was now talking to Allison who was sat down on a chair, looking up at him. Allison looked over as the old man left, Scott shooting her a smile and a wave.

"Hey, you know, maybe they're just here for the funeral." Stiles tried to lighten the situation a little. "I mean... maybe they're the non-hunting side of the family. There could be non-hunting Argents. It's possible, right?"

"I know what they are." Scott mumbled. "They're reinforcements."

Suddenly, hands grabbed hold of the back of Stiles' plaid shirt and Harper's blouse, pulling them back and standing them up straight. Scott whirled around, watching worriedly as Sheriff Stilinski gritted his teeth at the three teenagers.

"Ah. The three of you. Unbelievable." He muttered angrily. "Pick up my tie." He hissed at Stiles who quickly leaned down and grabbed it.

"Got it." Stiles mumbled. "Sorry. I know, I'm supposed to ask."

...

That's pretty much how Harper ended up in the back of a police car with her two best friends either side of her. Stiles was glancing ahead in annoyance while Scott fiddled with something on the roof of the car, trying to distract himself. Harper leaned her head on her boyfriend's shoulder, playing with the end of her skirt.

The radio suddenly began to make static sounds before a voice played over it. "4-1-5 Adam."

Sheriff Stilinski spoke through the radio, "I didn't copy that. Did you say 4-1-5 Adam?"

Stiles looked over to Harper and Scott. "Disturbance in a car." He whispered.

"They were taking a heart attack victim- DO.A. But on the way to the hospital, something hit 'em."

Noah frowned, "well... hit the ambulance?"

The three teenagers leaned forwards in anticipation.

"Copy that." The officer replied. "I'm standing in front of it right now. Something got in the back. There's blood everywhere. And I mean everywhere."

"Alright, unit 4, what's your 20?"

"Route 5 and post. I swear, I've never seen anything like this."

Stiles grabbed hold of Harper's hand, dragging her out of the police car before Noah could even turn to talk to them.

...

Harper had lost Scott and Stiles ages ago. It wasn't accident, she hadn't wandered off or taken the wrong turn while distracted by something, no, she had meant to lose them. The Empath had an aching feeling in her chest and her head, telling her to go somewhere.

Where was somewhere?

In the middle of the woods, apparently. Her phone wouldn't stop ringing from in her pocket and night had fallen a while ago, but Harper didn't care. She moved forwards, brambles and twigs scraping across her skin as she walked carelessly, as if in some kind of trance.

It wasn't like when Peter was controlling her. She wasn't feeling an urge that wasn't her own, this was her urge. She, herself, felt the need to take this path. Harper could feel so much anxiety coming from one direction, and then suddenly it would change and she would only pick up loneliness and utter confusion.

Harper ducked beneath a half fallen log, her brown eyes trying to focus in the darkness. Her tights were ripped from the amount of bushes she had walked through and she was bleeding.

A twig snapped in the distance causing her to freeze. The petite girl shivered in the cold as she turned around, attempting to look for the source of the noise. She couldn't see anything. Just trees, trees, and more trees.

"Lydia?" Harper called softly. "Lydia?"

A tinted grey mist suddenly pooled around Harper's feet and she took a step back, almost falling over a log. She steadied herself, fixing her eyes to follow the fog that was coming from behind a particularly thick area of trees.

Harper slowly followed it, her heavy breathing causing icy clouds. She moved some twigs out of the way of her face, ducking underneath a tree until she came to a leafy clearing. In the centre of the clearing, lying pale on the floor, was Lydia Martin.

The grey fog surrounded her, leaving as soon as Harper blinked a couple of times. Sudden realisation that Lydia was right there hit Harper and she dashed forwards, a mixture of worry and excitement filling her.

"Lydia!" She choked, tearing up at the sight of her best friend. "Lydia, are you okay? Are you awake? ... Oh god, are you alive?"

Harper ignored the fact that Lydia was stark naked, grabbing her friends wrist gently and checking for her pulse. Harper felt it, slow but steady. She let out a sigh of relief, feeling her knees buckle from underneath her.

She wriggled the oversized denim jacket she was wearing off of her and tapped the side of Lydia's face, trying to get her to wake up.

"Lydia?" Harper called. "Lyds?"

The strawberry blonde's eyes suddenly snapped open and as soon as they fixed on the brunette they relaxed. She shivered, sitting up as Harper wrapped the jacket around her. Lydia was only a tiny bit bigger than Harper so it was oversized on her too and covered everything.

Lydia stood up, wrapping her arms around Harper as she cried. Lydia's salty tears fell into Harper's hair but neither cared as Harper calmly began to pluck the stray twigs and leaves out of Lydia's hair, holding her as close as she possibly could.

Both girls shook from the freezing air, using each other's body warmth to heat up. Lydia had never felt so relieved to see Harper in her life, although she couldn't even remember what had happened. Harper felt the same, never so happy to see her favourite strawberry blonde.

"W-what happened?" Lydia stuttered, pulling away at arms distance.

"I don't know." Harper wiped a tear off of her face. "One minute you were showering and then you were out the window. How do you not know what happened?"

Lydia shrugged, "I can't remember anything." She whispered.

...

The brunette pushed back some twigs, her heart stopping as soon as she saw her boyfriend stood there, talking to his dad. Ambulance lights flashed from around them, police cars pulled up as officers took in the bloody scene around them.

Stiles looked up from where he had been kicking a stick around, his eyes landing on his girlfriend and Lydia Martin.

"Harper?" He called out in relief. "Lydia?"

He had been so worried when Harper had suddenly disappeared, especially since Lydia was out on the loose killing random people and stealing the liver from dead bodies. Everybody turned to face the two teenage girls as Harper kept Lydia underneath her arm, guiding her towards Sheriff and Stiles.

Stiles instantly had his arms around Harper. "Where did you go? How did you find her?" He asked urgently, taking a deep breath. "I was so worried about you."

"I'm fine now." Harper sighed. "But Lydia can't remember leaving the hospital."

Noah nodded, taking off his police jacket and putting it over Lydia's denim one, since it probably wasn't doing anything for the cold. Officers came over and began to guide Lydia away from them.

"W-where are you taking her?" Harper asked worriedly as Stiles clasped her wrist gently, stopping her from going after her. "Is she gonna be okay?"

Sheriff sighed, patting Harper's shoulder. "Your friend will most likely be okay. They're taking her to the hospital to check her over. She's very lucky you found her."

He walked away, leaving the two teenagers standing alone. Stiles' eyes glanced down at his girlfriend, seeing her shivering. All she was wearing was a blouse and a skirt, and her tights had been shredded by all of the brambles. He took note of all of the scratches across her skin, a particularly long one down her neck and just above her collarbone from where the top few buttons of her blouse had been open.

"How did you-"

Harper shook her head, sighing. "I don't even know, Stiles. I don't even know. I'm so clumsy it's unreal. Lydia was out there for days and she has a couple of scratches, I have like a bazillion."

Stiles chuckled, "you wouldn't be Harper if you didn't come outside and get injured."

He shrugged off his plaid shirt, putting it over his shoulder and leaving himself in just a graphic t-shirt. Harper's eyebrows knitted together as she frowned, passing it back to him.

"Please don't make us fight over who is going to wear the shirt. You're shaking like a leaf." Stiles groaned, shoving it back into her hands.

"You will be too, if you take the plaid shirt off."

Stiles huffed, "let me be romantic for once, yeah? The guy always gives the girl his jacket- or in my case, plaid shirt." He wrapped over her shoulders again and this time she didn't protest, happy to feel a little warmer.

"I love you." She spoke softly, going up on her tippy toes as she held his hands.

Stiles smiled, "I love you too."

He kissed her in front of everybody, extremely proud that he had a girl like Harper. Some officers saw and smiled, since they had always known since the second Stiles and Harper walked into the police station at ten years old that they would end up together.

...

"Where were you?" Rose asked as soon as Harper walked through the front door, kicking off her brown ankle boots.

Harper scoffed, "where were you?"

Her grandma sighed, her eyebrows raising when she saw the scrapes and cuts across Harper's legs.

"Were you in the woods?" She asked sceptically.

Harper nodded, "I found Lydia." The brunette mumbled, taking Stiles' plaid shirt off and holding it in her arms.

Rose's eyes widened, "is she okay?"

Harper just nodded again. "She's being checked over at the hospital. I need to go upstairs and take a shower."

As she tried pushing past her grandmother, Rose clasped her arm, pulling her back. Harper was shocked at the amount of force her grandma used, standing still to see what she had to say.

"You can't blame me, sweetie." Rose coughed a little. "Please don't be mad at me. Not right now."

Harper's eyebrows raised. "Why? What's right now?" She folded her arms across her chest as she waited for Rose's answer.

Nothing came.

Harper scoffed, turning back around. "Night."

Guilt washed over Harper as soon as she entered the bathroom, but she was too stubborn to go downstairs and apologise. She knew that her grandma was lying about why she didn't come and get her from the hospital, and until she told Harper the truth, Harper wasn't going to let it go.

Harper switched on the shower, the hot water spraying down her shoulders and down her back. If only her worries would go down the drain with it.

...


	29. Chapter 29

Harper spotted Allison and Lydia walking towards the school and rushed to catch up with them. She hadn't seen Lydia since she put her in hospital, so she really wanted to know if she was okay. Harper's shoulder collided with somebody, but with such force that it felt like she had walked into a brick wall.

"Ouch." She mumbled, frowning.

"Hey, are you okay?" Harper looked up to see Isaac Lahey stood there, a small smirk on his face as he towered over her. "I wasn't looking where I was going. I'm sorry."

Harper had never seen Isaac smirk before- or even smile for that matter. He also looked different in a way that Harper couldn't quite describe. Everything about him just seemed improved, but in such a subtle way that nobody would notice unless they looked close enough. Isaac was just radiating confidence.

"Oh, um, it's fine." Harper gave him a soft smile. "You look... different. Did you get a hair cut?"

Isaac hesitated before shrugging and smiling. "Something like that."

Harper didn't get the chance to ask him what he meant before he had walked away. She rubbed her shoulder, muttering a few words under her breath before moving to catch up with two of her best friends.

"Hey, guys." Harper chirped, stepping in the middle of her friends to link arms with them. "How are you Lydia? Sorry I couldn't visit you while you were in hospital."

Lydia swatted the air, "it's no big deal. I can't even remember anything about while I was in the woods, or much before that."

Allison frowned deeply, "you really don't remember anything?"

"They called it a fugue state." Lydia explained. "Which is basically a way of saying 'we have no idea why you can't remember running through the woods naked for two days'."

Harper rubbed the strawberry blonde's comfortingly as they stopped outside the main entrance, Lydia turning to beam at them.

"But personally, I don't care." She grinned. "I lost nine pounds."

Allison chuckled while Harper smiled at her friend, taking her arm off of her back to briefly pat her arm. "Are you ready?" Harper asked sweetly.

Lydia scoffed, looking at Allison. "Please, it's not like my aunt's a serial killer." She flipped her hair, opening the doors and waltzing inside.

Harper's heart fell when she saw the look on Allison's face. She grabbed Allison's hand, sending the taller girl a comforting smile. Allison returned it weakly before they went in after Lydia. As soon as they walked inside, they found their favourite strawberry blonde frozen in her spot as the entire hallway stopped to stare at her.

The shorter brunette moved up onto her toes, "maybe it's the nine pounds." She whispered in Lydia's ear.

Lydia pursed her lips together before nodding, walking as confidently as she could onwards. Allison and Harper both smiled at each other before linking arms and following a little less dramatically.

...

The brunette walked towards the bleachers, taking her seat at the top so that she could see past the other people sitting on the bench. Stiles was actually in practice today, so she decided she would do her English homework instead of talking.

Like an ocean with no boundaries,

Harper didn't even get to finish the second half of her sentence when she heard someone go down on the field. She quickly looked up, hoping it wasn't Stiles. Instead of Stiles being on the ground in a very awkward position, she saw Scott, who was meant to be in goal, on top of another lacrosse player.

She snickered, shaking her head as she wondered what the hell he was doing. He helped the kid he pushed over up and Harper saw him visibly sniff him, even going as far as to smell down his chest. Harper raised an eyebrow, slowly closing her English book.

She'd be stupid to think she was getting any homework done when Scott, and probably Stiles, were doing something so ridiculous.

"McCall!" Coach Finstock yelled, pointing at him and the goal. "Usually the goalie stays somewhere within the vicinity of the actual goal."

Scott nodded, "yes, Coach." He replied, running back to stand in the goal.

Harper leaned forwards, resting her chin on her hand and her elbow on her knee as she watched in complete confusion and amusement. What were her best friends up to?

"Let's try it again!" Coach yelled, blowing the whistle loudly.

Scott got ready as the next player came up. Harper inwardly cringed when she saw that it was Matt. She honestly took him as the nerdy type, she had no idea that he was on the team. Coach threw the ball and Matt caught it, darting forwards.

The werewolf suddenly came out from his area within the goal, running in front of the defence to smack straight into Matt, sending the boy flying over his shoulders and onto his back with a thump. Harper cringed as Scott bent down, sniffing right over Matt's helmet.

"McCall!" Finstock practically screamed this time. "The position's goal keeper. Not goal abandoner."

"Sorry, Coach." Scott didn't sound too sincere as he stepped back into goal.

The next guy went up and Scott did exactly the same to him as he had done to the first two guys. He sent him flying, and then bent down to sniff him. Why was he doing it for everybody to see?

Danny was next and Harper felt herself quickly loosing her patience and sanity. Of course, Scott knocked Danny down, landing right in top of him as he sniffed him. Her face fell into her hands and she shook her head.

"Why do I even bother coming to your lacrosse practice's at this point?" She muttered under her breath.

Jackson stepped out of the line, saying something about his shoulder hurting, leaving Isaac next. Stiles was behind him, staring at him oddly. Harper squinted her eyes, trying to get a better look. No matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn't catch on to whatever the bos were trying to figure out.

She. Was. So. Confused.

Coach blew the whistle, throwing the ball at Isaac who caught it effortlessly. He then began to run at the same time as Isaac took off, both running straight at each other. The collided, both their equipment rattling as they went flying through the air, landing on their hands and knees right in front of each other.

The whistle blew just as Harper looked up, seeing three police officers, including Sheriff Stilinski, walking over towards Isaac and Scott.

...

"His father's dead." Scott whispered to Stiles and Harper as he listened into the conversation that Isaac was having with the police across the field.

Harper's heart plummeted at the words, remembering exactly how it felt to be told by police officers that a parent had died. It also meant that Isaac was an orphan now, just like her. She frowned and Stiles placed a hand on her shoulder from where she stood in front of them.

"They think he was murdered."

Sheriff Stilinski muttered something before his hand went up to Isaac's shoulder, leading him away from the field.

"Do they think he did it?" Harper questioned, a million thoughts running through her head all at once.

"I'm not sure, why?" Scott replied, not taking his eyes off of the scene occurring in front of them.

Harper bit her lip. "Can't they hold him in a holding cell for twenty four hours?" She looked up at her boyfriend for confirmation who nodded proudly at her, despite the situation. "That means during a full moon."

The boys had informed her that Scott had smelt another werewolf on the team, so he had been trying to figure out who it was. Much to Harper's surprise, it was Isaac.

"How good are these holding cells at holding people?" Scott's voice was barely above a murmur as he turned to face Stiles.

"People, good." Stiles hesitated before adding, "werewolves, probably not that good."

Scott didn't look away as he kept talking lowly, "Stiles, remember when I said that I don't have the urge to maim and kill? He does."

Harper's eyes widened as Isaac turned his head to face them, clearly having had listened in on their conversation with his brand new hearing abilities. She shook her head, feeling her hands get a little clammy.

"Are you guys sure? Isaac Lahey?" Harper's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

Scott nodded. "I'm sure. Why, do you know him?"

Harper shrugged, "we're friends. Kind of..." She watched as the police disappeared with him. "It's just... Isaac's one of the nicest people I've ever met. Why would he-"

Stiles cut her off, "yeah, well he's not too nice anymore." He dead-panned. "Which means you shouldn't be hanging out with him, right Scott?"

Harper watched as Scott nodded, agreeing with Stiles. "Yeah, it's too risky to be around him, Harps."

"All of a sudden, he's a new werewolf and his dad ends up dead. Does that not sound the slightest bit off to you?" Stiles added.

Harper sighed, nodding. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." She was annoyed that they were right. "I won't hang out with him. He talked to me today and he was fine, though."

Stiles grew angry with jealousy. "Okay, well ignore him next time."

Harper glanced up at him, "okay." She mumbled. "Let's get to Chemistry."

...

Harper had convinced Mr Harris to let her sit in between Stiles and Scott, claiming that if she didn't then she would probably have a nervous breakdown. After Lydia and Harper had been found unconscious on the school field, the school kind of had to let them have their way, since Mrs Martin had threatened to sue them.

So, of course, he had to let her, which was why Harper was now sat in the middle of her two best friends, doodling in her notebook as the two boys talked on either side of her.

"Why would Derek choose Isaac?" Scott questioned as Harris wrote on the chalk board, his back turned to them.

Harper didn't look up from where she was drawing. "Peter told us that if the bite doesn't turn you then it will kill you. I don't know, maybe teenagers have a better chance of surviving." She guessed, not noticing the look of admiration Stiles had when she spoke.

Stiles not so secretly loved it when Harper spoke smart. When she picked up on things that he had said before and figured things out like a detective. Or even when she would read her English essays to him or correct someone with facts- he loved it all.

"Does being a teenager mean your dad can't hold him?" Scott asked Stiles, snapping the hazel eyed boy out of his trance.

"Well, not unless they have solid evidence." Stiles shrugged. "Or a witness."

Something seemed to snap inside him and he gasped, "Wait." He whirled around in his seat, seeing no signs of Jackson. "Danny." He hissed. "Where's Jackson?"

"In the principal's office talking to your dad." Danny replied, clearly a little confused as to why he was asking him.

"What? Why?"

"Maybe because he lives across the street from Isaac." Danny rolled his eyes, turning back to his book as he continued to take notes from the board.

"Witness." Harper whispered to herself as Stiles faced them again.

Stiles nodded, "we gotta get to the principal's office."

"How?" Scott asked.

Harris suddenly spoke up, not turning back around. "Everybody please turn to page seventy-three."

Harper thought quickly, panicking as she ripped out the page she had been doodling on, scrunching it up and throwing it. It hit Harris right in the back of his head and everybody began to laugh. Stiles and Scott stared at her in shock and she placed a hand over her mouth, not quite believing that she did that.

Harris turned around. "Who in the hell did that?"

Scott quickly pointed at Harper, who pointed at Stiles, who pointed at Scott.

...

"I can't believe you did that." Stiles snickered as they sat outside the principal's office, high fiving his girlfriend. "You've never done anything bad before! Remember when I got us that detention and you were pissed at me?"

Harper shrugged, a small smile crossing her face. "I took one for the team."

Scott rolled his eyes, "then why is the whole team in trouble?" He glared as he sank down in the seats.

Harper shrugged, "didn't think of that."

Stiles was about to talk again when Scott hushed him, his ear practically pressed against the glass window of the office as he attempted to listen into the conversation that was taking place. Harper and Stiles tried to listen in too, but without any werewolf powers, they couldn't.

Harper could feel Jackson's slight anxiety and Noah's confusion and disappointment, however.

"Wait, so you're telling me that you knew Isaac's father was hitting him?" Sheriff Stilinski questioned, sounding a mixture of shock and disappointment.

"Hitting him?" Jackson scoffed. "He was kicking the crap out of him."

"Did you ever say anything to anyone? A teacher, parents, anyone?"

"Nope. It's not my problem."

There was a heavy silence before Noah replied, "no, no, of course not. You know, it's funny that the kids getting beaten up are always the ones who least deserve it."

"Yeah." Jackson sighed. "Wait, what?"

"I think we're done here." Sheriff Stilinski replied.

The door suddenly opened and Stiles freaked out, grabbing a magazine and throwing it over his face in an attempt to hide from his father and the other police officer that walked out. Noah didn't say anything but stared at them for a few seconds, the most 'done' look ever on his face.

Harper smiled sheepishly while Scott just stared, Stiles still 'hidden' behind a cheesy teen magazine.

"Hi, Scott. Hi, Harper." Noah stared at Stiles the entire time, though of course he wouldn't know that.

Scott sent him a small wave while Harper pursed her lips together and gave him a short nod. Noah walked away and Stiles put the magazine down, sighing in relief. Harper rolled her eyes at the fact that he thought he had gotten away with it. Stiles was so, so smart and yet so, so not.

"Boys and girl." A familiar deep voice came from the doorway, causing the three of them to turn their heads. "Come on in."

Stood in their principal's office, with a cocky smirk, was none other than Gerard Argent.


	30. Chapter 30

"Scott McCall." Gerard read a file from behind his desk. "Academically not the most accomplished, but I see that you have become quite the star athlete."

Scott squirmed uncomfortably in the seat from beside Harper, hating the way that Gerard was looking at him. He had informed Harper and Stiles of Gerard's status- the newest werewolf hunter in Beacon Hills. And apparently, he was even more crazy than Kate Argent.

Harper wondered how that was possible until Scott had told her what he had saw him do.

The werewolf had seen Gerard slice another omega werewolf right in half, claiming that every werewolf in Beacon Hills was going to die. This was his revenge for Peter killing his daughter.

A bit extra, if you were to ask Harper. 

"Harper Verum." He spoke, pronouncing her last name wrong."Verum." He repeated and Harper's heart began to beat quicker.

All three were thinking the same thing- if this man knew about the supernatural and was well informed, then he must know about Empaths. Her last name was a dead giveaway to any hunter that hated all species of the supernatural. Harper prayed that if he knew, he only hated werewolves.

"It's Latin." Harper cleared her throat. "And pronounced Verum like 'Serum' not 'Vir-room." She gave him a sweet, yet utterly fake, smile.

Gerard nodded, "Ah." He read it over. "Very nice. What does it mean?"

Harper's eyebrows raised, "huh?"

"Your surname, Ms Verum." He chuckled deeply, "you said it was Latin."

"Oh, yeah." Harper panicked, "I don't know, sorry."

Gerard just hummed.

"Ms Verum, you have outstanding grades, apart from Chemistry and Math where you average a B. And I see here that you have done some art for the school. Where, may I ask?"

Harper pursed her lips together, forcing a nod. "It's around. Some in the library, some in the halls..."

Harper had been quite the artist before the whole supernatural disaster had started. It had been a while since she had just sat down and painted or drew for fun.

The hunter moved onto Stiles, "Mr Stilinski. Oh, perfect grades but little to no extracurriculars." He put down the file. "Maybe you should try lacrosse." He suggested.

"Oh, actually I'm already-"

Gerard lifted a finger, cutting him off. "Hold on." He turned to Scott. "McCall. You're the Scott that was dating my granddaughter."

Harper was annoyed that he had cut off Stiles from talking to talk about Scott- it seems like that was all anybody ever did nowadays. Harper reached under the desk to hold her boyfriend's hand, stroking his hand with her thumb gently.

Scott hesitated, "we were dating but not anymore. Not dating, not seeing any of each other or doing anything with each other... At all." He rambled, a nervous mess in front of the man he had seen murder his own kind.

"Relax, Scott, you look like you're about to crack a cyanide pill with your teeth." Gerard spoke, his voice so deep that Harper honestly had to strain to understand him.

Scott took a deep breath. "Just a hard breakup."

"Oh, that's too bad." Gerard gave him a smile. "You seem like a pretty nice kid to me. Now listen guys, yes, I am the principal, but I really don't want you to think of me as the enemy."

"Heh, is that so?" Stiles rolled his eyes sarcastically and Harper hummed in agreement.

Gerard continued, "however, this being my first day, I do need to support my teachers. So unfortunately someone is going to have to take the fall and stay behind for detention."

Harper leaned forward in her seat, about to take the blame (since she had been the one to throw the paper ball), when Stiles inturrupted her, "I'll do it."

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"I was the one who threw the paper ball, so." Stiles lied.

...

Harper hurried to walk along side Stiles as he rushed towards his jeep, his phone on speaker so that she could listen along to his and Allison's conversation.

"Hey, sorry, Harris literally just let me out of detention. Literally." Stiles excused. "Harper's phone is dead and he had my phone the whole frickin' time."

"Well, we need to do something right now." Allison spoke more calmly on the other end of the phone call. "They are asking me all these questions about Lydia and even Harper and how they were both bitten by Peter, and then they sent this guy out."

"Wait, what guy?" Harper questioned, nervous that they had found out that she had been bitten too.

"He was dressed as a Sheriff's deputy." Allison replied.

Stiles and Harper shared knowing looks. "They're sending him to the station for Isaac." Stiles realised.

Allison added, "he was also carrying this box with something on it, like, um, like a carving or something."

"What was it?" Stiles asked.

"Hold on, hold on." There was shuffling on the other end. "It's in one of these books. I'm taking a picture."

Stiles' phone pinged and he lowered it so that Harper could see. They both groaned when they saw the familair flower painted on the page.

"Did you get it?"

"Yep." Harper sighed. "It's wolfsbane."

"What does that mean?" Allison asked lowly.

"It means they're gonna kill him."

...

"Did you slow him down?" Harper asked Allison over the phone as Stiles concentrated on driving to the police station as quickly as he could.

"You could say that." Allison replied slyly.

"Tell her we're heading to the station." Stiles hissed as turned a corner, not taking his eyes off of the road in front of him.

His headlights lit up the dark roads in front of him, but he still had to give him maximum concentration in the death trap that was his beloved jeep.

"We're heading towards the station right now." Harper repeated Stiles' words to Allison, looking out the window as the passed the many identical trees.

"Where's Scott?"

"He's at Isaac's." Harper replied.

Derek had taken them there straight after Stiles had been given his detention. Harper didn't want to go on their little werewolf bonding trip, so she had decided she would stay and wait in the car park for Stiles instead. He was her ride home, after all. Plus, she had a million thanks to give him for saving her arse.

"Does he have a plan?" Allison inquired.

Stiles chimed in, "yeah, but not a very good one." He practically yelled, Harper flinching away from his mouth. "And unfortunately, we don't really have time to come up with anything better."

Allison sighed, muttering a quick goodbye before hanging up the phone. Harper squirmed to place her phone in her back pocket, pressing the side of her face against the cool glass of the jeep's window, looking out at the sky.

In the middle of the very few noticable stars in the sky was the full moon, shining brighter and bigger than Harper had ever seen it before. She hoped that not only would Isaac be okay in his cell, but Scott, who was still learning to control himself.

...

The jeep finally pulled up in front of Beacon County Sheriff Station, the place where Isaac was being held in his prison cell. Along the way they had picked up Derek who wanted to help, seeing as Isaac was his beta, after all. Harper had of course been forced into the backseat- like always.

She unbuckled her seatbelt and shifted forwards to look into the reception room through the glass and open blinds, the two boys in front of her doing the same thing. An officer was stood behind the desk, moving around as she shuffled paper, her long, dark hair falling in front of her face. Harper guessed she was in her late twenties.

"Okay, now the keys to every cell are in a password protected lockbox in my father's office." Stiles explained to Derek. "The problem is getting past the front desk."

"I'll distract her." Derek announced, turning to unbuckle his seatbelt.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa- you?" He grabbed Derek's arm, pulling him back. "You're not going in there."

Derek looked down at Stiles' hand on his arm before shifting his gaze back up to the teenage boy and glaring. Stiles quickly noticed and took his hand off as if he had just touched the stove accidentally.

"I'm taking my hand off." Stiles quickly noted.

Derek just stared at him. "I was exonerated."

Harper scoffed from the backseat. "Yeah, but you're still a person of interest." She chimed in, causing Derek to send her a look.

"An innocent person." He reminded her.

"An- you? Ha, yeah, right." Stiles laughed sarcastically, Derek's head turning to face back to him.

Much to Harper's surprise, Derek didn't glare at them once, he remained with his eyebrows raised, as if amused by the entire situation. Harper kind of liked it when Derek wasn't being such a sour wolf.

"Okay, fine. What's your plan?" Stiles asked.

Derek looked at him as if it was obvious, "to distract her." He nodded.

"Yeah, but, how?" Harper questioned, leaning her chin on the seats in front of her adorably.

Stiles spoke up, "by punching her in the face?" He suggested sarcastically, faking a tough growl.

"Heh," Derek shot back an unpleased look, "by talking to her."

Harper grinned, "okay, give us an example of what you're going to say then." She sat up eagerly, excited. "How are you going to start?"

Derek didn't say anything but just stared at her for about five seconds.

Harper shrugged, nodding. "Dead silence. I guess it would confuse her?" She tried to be optimistic.

Stiles just groaned, rolling his eyes. Sometimes his girlfriend was way too nice. She knew that dead silence would fail, Derek knew that dead silence would fail, and Stiles knew that dead silence would fail.

"Any other ideas?" Stiles sighed in annoyance, raising a dark eyebrow.

Derek made a face as if he was actually pondering an idea. "I'm thinking about punching you in the face." He spoke seriously, Harper's face dropping and Stiles' thin lips pursing into a straight line as he glared.

...

The alpha werewolf strolled into the police station, taking his time as he made his way up to the desk, looking straight at the officer as she walked in, not looking up from the book that she was skimming through.

"Good evening, how can I help... you?" She looked up, dropping the book on the table to smile at him nervously, clearly taken aback by who stood in front of her.

Derek grinned a toothy smile, honestly surprising Harper. She had never actually seen him smile before- only smirks or small nods of approval- never a full blown out grin. He looked nice when he smiled.

"Hi." Derek pretended to sound awestruck.

"Hi." The dark skinned woman repeated, sounding like she had just seen God himself.

Stiles rolled his eyes at their flirting while Harper grabbed his hand, pulling him left so that they could get past the front desk without being seen.

"Um, I had a question." Derek spoke sweetly. "Um, sorry, I'm a little- a little thrown, I wasn't really expecting someone..."

"Like me?" The woman giggled as the two teenagers shifted towards the back of the sheriff's department.

Derek didn't hesitate as he replied, "oh, I was going to say 'somebody so incredibly beautiful' but, yeah, I guess that'd be the same thing." The smile didn't leave his face for a second.

Harper didn't have time to wonder how Derek was so good at flirting before Stiles had tugged her into the back. They had finally made it out of the reception room and into a long hallway. They both walked side by side into the sheriff's office, knowing exactly where it was from being there so much.

Stiles moved to the lockbox at the back of the room, quickly pressing the buttons as Harper kept watch at the door. He opened it up, groaning when he found it was empty.

"It's empty." Stiles whispered urgently at her, running a hand through his buzz cut. "That means the hunter is already here."

Harper grabbed his hand, "come on, then."

Stiles pulled her back from running off, "wait, Harper, stop."

Harper turned to face him, confused. "What is it?" She frowned, clearly starting to panic a little as time passed. "Isaac could be dead by now, we have to go and help him."

Stiles shook his head. "I don't want you coming." He squeezed her hand. "I can't bear the thought of you being hurt again. Please."

The brunette scoffed, "Stiles, I rarely ever get hurt when we're together. I always get hurt when I'm alone."

Stiles sucked on his bottom lip for a second, bouncing his leg as he contemplated everything. Harper was telling the absolute truth, but he didn't know if he could handle watching her hurt again. He thought she would be safer in his dad's office, but now he was second guessing.

"Okay." He sighed, gripping her hand tight. "Don't let go of my hand, alright?"

Harper gave him a toothy grin. "Wouldn't dream of it."

They quickly set off around the corner, almost bumping straight into a police officer. Both started to panic, Stiles quickly about to make up an excuse as to why they were in the back when he saw half of an arrow sticking out of his thigh and a needle full of wolfsbane curled in his hand.

The hunter's eyes followed Harper's watching as she gulped. "Oh sh-" before they could run he had reached out and grasped the both of them, tugging them back with so much force Harper almost fell completely.

Harper tried to reach up and grab the fire alarm as he began to tug them back, but her arms were too short, and tugged her back harder. Seeing what his girlfriend was trying to do, Stiles managaed to tug his arm away in time to pull it.

The red alarm lights flashed along the hallways and the shrill sound of the bell began to fill their ears. With one last push, the hunter had them both in the room that Isaac's cell was in, dropping them to the ground. Stiles frantically moved around, getting back onto his knees and grabbing Harper's arm, pulling her up with him.

Harper, Stiles, and the hunter turned to face his cell, horror etching on all of their face's when they saw that the door was wide open and it was empty. All of a sudden, a figure came running into the room, grabbing the hunter by his jacket and slamming him back into a table.

Stiles tugged his girlfriend back, both watching with wide eyes as Isaac, in full werewolf form, fought Argent's hunter. Isaac continued to throw the man against the walls as the couple moved behind a desk, Stiles slipping on the way over.

Harper covered her eyes with her hands when she heard the sound of a bone breaking and the hunter crying out, knowing that Isaac had gone full terminator. She only opened her eyes when she heard the sound of glass crushing and someone else step into the room.

Derek.

Isaac growled at him, his yellow eyes glowing as he moved his claws towards him, only for Derek to suddenly shift. The alpha roared loudly, his red eyes flashing at his beta, instantly making Isaac cower into the corner, afraid. The golden haired boy whimpered, trying to cover his face with his hands.

When Isaac looked back up he was human again, sweat covering his pale skin as he shook like a leaf in the autumn time.

Stiles panted as he looked between them. "How did you do that?" He questioned, gulping.

Derek turned his head to the side to face the two teenagers. "I'm the alpha." He smirked.


	31. Chapter 31

Harper grinned as she undid her harness, letting it dangle for the next person to climb the wall. Somehow, the unathletic teen had managed to climb the wall and come back down again before her partner had even started to come back down. Coach Finstock gave her a thumbs up and she jogged back towards her group of friends.

"Well done, Harps." Stiles congratulated her, pressing a kiss to her temple and wrapping an arm around her waist, holding her close to him.

The brunette smiled, "thanks."

Stiles squeezed her gently. "I told you that you were worried for nothing." He reminded her, causing her to roll her eyes.

"McCall! Argent!" Coach suddenly yelled, pointing to their group. "Up on the wall!"

Scott and Allison both grinned at each other before moving over to the wall that Harper had just climbed. Stiles and Harper watched as they slowly began to climb the wall, talking to each other while doing so.

Allison started to speed up, only for Scott to speed up too. She stared at him for a second before a sly grin crossed her face and she leaned towards him, kicking his ankle. Scott fell from the wall, his harness saving him last second as everybody laughed at him, including Stiles and Harper.

Scott breathed heavily, holding a hand to his rapidly beating heart to try and calm himself down. 

Coach Finstock laughed, bending down to his level. "McCall," he chuckled. "I don't know why, but your pain gives me a special kind of joy. Right?"

Allison grinned as she came down from the wall, unbuckling her harness. Coach stood up, yelling, "all right, next two. Stilinski, Erica, let's go."

Stiles smiled excitedly, squeezing Harper's arm before taking off towards the wall. Erica, however, didn't look too pleased to be climbing. She looked as anxious as Harper had felt before going up.

"Good luck, Erica." Harper reached forward to pat her shoulder reassuringly. "You'll do fine."

Erica pursed her lips together and forced a nod, almost shaking for nerves. Harper knew exactly how she felt, and wished that she could take away some of her anxiousness. She remembered reading something online about Empaths- that they could manipulate emotions.

Maybe she could help Erica out a little?

Before letting go of Erica's shoulder, she gave it a small squeeze and imagined pushing calmness into her friend. The frizzy haired blonde stared at Harper in amazement, "did your eyes just turn purp—"

"Erica! On the wall!" Coach Finstock yelled, cutting her off (thankfully).

Erica sighed and nodded, heading over. Harper noticed that she had stopped shaking, which she assumed was from her manipulating her emotions. The brunette wondered that if she had been able to hold on for longer that her anxiousness would just go away completely.

By the time Erica was half way up the wall, Stiles was already coming back down it. As Stiles took his harness off, she noticed the way that Erica was shaking, only just catching the sounds of her hyperventilating.

Everyone began to crowd around and Harper joined Stiles' side as they looked up at her worriedly.

"Erica!" Coach called. "Dizzy? Is it vertigo?"

Lydia suddenly appeared beside Coach. "Vertigo is a dysfunction of vestibular system of the inner ear." Lydia rolled her eyes. "She's just freaking out."

"Erica." Harper called, concerned.

The blonde stuttered back, "I-I'm fine, Harps."

Harper sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Coach, maybe you should make her come down. She's epileptic." She mumbled so that the girl they were talking about couldn't hear.

"Why does nobody tell me this stuff?" Coach groaned, turning back to look up. "Erica, y-you're fine. Just- Just kick off from the wall. There's a mat to catch you. Come on."

Erica's hands shook as she slowly let go of the wall, coming down in her harness. Her entire body trembled as her feet touched the mat and Coach began to reassure her that she was okay. People began to snicker from around her and Harper clenched her fists, immediately mad at them.

Before she could move to comfort the blonde, Erica had already taken off.

...

"Are you going tonight?" Allison asked Harper as she pulled off her shirt, spraying her body spray. "Scott said that Stiles is really excited."

Harper's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion as she pulled her shorts down. "What's tonight? Stiles hasn't said anything about doing something tonight."

The hunter immediately winced, "oops." She giggled nervously. "I guess I wasn't supposed to tell you, but Scott and Stiles are taking us to the ice rink after hours. Stiles is getting the keys off of Boyd, I think."

Harper hummed as she pulled her skirt up her legs, followed by a pair of tights. Stiles hadn't told her about going ice skating, and she knew why. Not because he wanted it to be a surprise, but because he knew that she would back out if she knew where they were going.

Harper sucked at ice skating.

"Oo, I wanna come." Lydia chirped, untangling the ends of her strawberry blonde hair. "I haven't been ice skating for a while."

"Sure." Allison replied awkwardly, unable to say no to her best friend.

It was meant to be a double date, but who were they to say no to their friend who had recently been through a lot? Her boyfriend had broken up with her, she was now the school's freak, she had been bitten by Peter Hale...

"I'll be over yours to help you pick an outfit out." Lydia winked at Allison before leaving the girls changing room, leaving just Allison and Harper left.

Harper pulled her white top over her head, tucking it into her skirt just as she felt her hands begin to cramp up. A metallic taste became present in her mouth, just like blood. She stared at her hands, feeling her muscles go stiff as she fell backwards, shaking. She knew what was wrong automatically.

"Erica!" Harper gasped to Allison. "If you- you need to—"

The room to the changing rooms suddenly opened and Stiles rushed inside, his eyes widening when he saw Harper. Allison looked up at him in shock, watching as he took control of the situation, helping her the best that he could. Allison still hadn't been informed that Harper was an Empath yet.

"How did you know?" Allison asked frantically, still freaking out.

Stiles turned his head to the side, facing the hunter. "Because Scott felt Erica having a seizure, so I figured Harper would too." He turned back to his girlfriend, stroking her face gently as she began to calm down, showing that Erica had too. "You okay?"

The Empath nodded, "does this mean Erica is okay?"

Allison stared between them both, still confused. "I'll go check." She muttered, grabbing her bag before jogging to the sports hall where she knew Scott would be with said girl.

Harper fell against Stiles chest, exhausted. "We need to figure out how to control my abilities." She intertwined her fingers with his slowly. "Derek said I could, maybe I could ask him."

Stiles groaned, "let's try without him first. I'll do all the research I can- starting tonight. I'm gonna figure out how to help."

Harper bit her bottom lip as she stood up. "Well, let's hope we find out soon before I have an episode in front of somebody else."

...

A pair of keys were slammed down in front of Scott and Harper as they sat down in the lunch hall, Harper eating her sandwich while Scott ate something from the cafeteria. Harper rolled her eyes, a feeling of dread taking place in the pit of her stomach.

"I don't want to go ice skating." The petite girl complained, desperate to get out of it.

Stiles frowned, "what?!" He spluttered. "How- how did you know?"

She rolled her brown eyes, "Allison told me in the locker rooms. Sti... you know I can't ice skate. Remember when I fell over when I was ten and broke my arm?!"

Stiles sighed loudly. "That was the first time you ever went ice skating- and the last! You might be better than then, you just need to give it a shot." He paused. "Plus... I wanted our first date to be cute and romantic, and when I looked it up online, it said that ice skating was totally cute and totally romantic."

Harper raised her eyebrows, "you haven't even asked me out yet."

Stiles' face fell into his hands. "This is all going so not how I thought it would go..."

Harper suddenly felt bad, reaching forwards to grab his hand, pulling it away from his face. She squeezed it, smiling at him sweetly.

"I'll go..." Harper gave in. "But if I fall then you're paying for my medical bill."

Stiles grinned at her, leaning forwards across the table to kiss her forehead. "Done!" He rubbed his hands together happily. "I'll pick you up tonight, okay? And I'll pick you up after work, kay Scott?"

When both teens saw that he was distracted by something else, they followed his eyes across the hall, seeing a girl come through the door. Harper's mouth fell open when she saw that the girl was Erica Reyes.

Instead of her frizzy hair, blemished skin, and baggy clothing, Erica's makeup was done, her hair was curled to perfection and she was wearing one of the tighest skirts that Harper had ever seen. Erica waltzed over in her heels towards a table of freshmen guys, picking an apple out of one of their hands and taking a bite.

Lydia slammed her hands down on their table, but neither looked up at her. "What... the holy hell... is that?" The strawberry blonde exclaimed.

"Erica freaking Reyes." Harper breathed, standing up and going after her.

The two boys followed close behind, knowing exactly what had happened. There was only one reason as to why Erica would suddenly look and act so different over night- she had been bitten. They ran out of the main entrance as quick as they could, just in time to see Erica.

Erica shot Harper a grin and a slight wave before climbing into a familiar car. Derek turned around in the driver's seat towards them, grinning at the three shocked teenagers. Nobody said anything as he took off, speeding out of the school.

..

"— I was a mess. Mascara down my cheeks, my hair was way greasier than socially acceptable, I hadn't changed my clothes in three days, and eating was no longer part of my routine." Harper finished.

Lydia raised an eyebrow, "all that because your favourite character died?"

"You don't understand." Harper insisted, "Fred and George were never supposed to be separated by anything."

Lydia and Allison both giggled shaking their heads at the fangirl from where Harper and Lydia sat in Allison's beanbag and Allison stood putting her gloves on. A knock came from the door and they turned their heads, seeing Chris stood in the doorway with a slight smile on his face.

"Headed out?" Chris asked.

"Studying." Allison lied, sighing as she walked towards him. "Just studying, dad."

Chris put an arm around his daughter's shoulder, turning them away from the other two teenage girls.

"I get it." He spoke in a low whisper. "But we need you to remember what happened."

Allison's eyebrows furrowed together. "You want me to stop being friends with them?" She whispered back, disbelief lacing her tone.

Argent paused, "actually, we want the opposite. I know how this might sound, but we need you to keep an eye on them. Especially Harper. If she was bitten weeks ago and you say she's not like Scott, then she could be so much more dangerous."

Allison rolled her eyes, "you want me to spy on them?"

"We want you to look our for your friends to make sure everything is okay with them." Chris corrected her.

The two Argent's turned their heads to face the two girls, seeing both of them extremely close to each other, taking selfies with wierd faces and giggling. Lydia took one more and let out a particuarly loud giggle, clinging to Harper's arm and throwing her head back. Harper grinned, taking the phone out of Lydia's hand and posting it.

"Seems okay to me." Allison beamed as she watched her them.

Allison wouldn't let anybody touch her two best friends.


	32. Chapter 32

Harper sat beside her boyfriend on the bleachers, Lydia the other side of her as the three of them tied the laces to their skates. The brunette was already regretting saying yes to ice skating, practically feeling the bone she had broken before throbbing, as if a warning to make sure she didn't step foot on the ice.

"You're shaking." Stiles noted as he glanced over at his girlfriend while she tied her last shoe.

She looked up a him, forcing a smile. "Yeah, I don't know if it's because I'm anxious or if it's because it's freezing in here."

Stiles' face lit up as if he had an idea and he turned to his backpack, pulling out an orange jumper and practically shoving it in her face. Harper craned her neck backwards to get a good look at it before taking it from his hands.

Lydia raised an eyebrow, "Harps... you're wearing blue. Orange and blue, not a good combination." She scrunched her nose up, as if appauled by the thought.

The hazel eyed boy looked at her in disbelief. "But it's the colours of the mets." He protested, causing Harper to smile slightly.

Stiles loved the baseball team so much- he was actually offended when Harper didn't know who they were when she moved over. He made her watch every game with her when they were younger, and even nowadays she would watch it with him occasionally.

Harper shrugged on the jumper anyways. "Oh well, it hides my blue top." Harper told Lydia. "Now I'm only wearing black and orange."

Lydia sighed dramatically, "still not that better."

...

"Stiles!" Harper gulped as she stepped foot on the ice, falling straight into him.

Stiles caught her by the waist, pulling her back up as she slipped, holding her tightly. She stared at him with wide eyes as he helped her regain her balance until she was up straight. He chuckled, slowly moving his hands from her waist to her hands, holding both of them tightly.

They glanced over at Lydia who was gliding along the ice like a pro, doing all sorts of spins and jumps, an easy grin on her face. Harper sighed, turning back to her boyfriend with a dissapointed look on her face.

"I'm gonna die." Harper muttered, her palms starting to grow sweaty as Stiles lead her backwards further. "I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna-"

"You're not gonna die, okay?" Stiles gripped her tighter when she almost slipped. "I've got you, all right? I won't let you fall."

Harper took a deep breath, nodding as she looked across at Scott who had already managed to fall onto his butt. She couldn't even bring herself to laugh, knowing that that would be her in a few minutes.

Stiles took the lead, guiding her around the edges of the ice rink with both hands, slowly letting go until he was only holding one of her hands. She held his hand as tight as she could without hurting him, her lips pursed and her eyes wide as she concentrated with everything she had inside her.

"I'm going to let go now, okay?" Stiles told her once they had made it around the edge a full time. "I'll be right next to you."

Harper bit her lip, nodding as Stiles slowly removed his hands. Harper squealed, almost losing her balance, but she managed to keep up right, grinning at Stiles as they slowly went along beside each other. He held his hands out just in case.

"I'm doing it, Sti!" The brunette squealed. "I'm skating! I'm-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Scott had knocked straight into her, landing right on top of her petite frame. They both groaned, Harper louder than Scott, knowing that she had definitely landed on her hand weird. Stiles pulled Scott off as Allison skated over, helping Scott up.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Scott quickly apolgised, helping Stiles pull Harper to her feet.

Harper glared at him, "I think I've broken my finger, you arse!"

"Why do you think-" Stiles looked down at her hand, seeing her pinky finger extremely bruised and limp. "Oh God. Yep. That's a broken finger."

Harper glared at Stiles this time hot tears stinging in her eyes from the pain and the horrible sensation in her finger causing her to feel slightly sick. Stiles sighed worriedly, shooting Scott a look before gently grabbing Harper by the elbow and leading her over to the bleachers. He grabbed a first aid kit from the wall and gently took her hand in his.

"Sorry for the worst first date ever." Stiles mumbled, not looking up from where he had ripped the medical tape with his teeth. He slowly began to wrap it around her pinky finger and the one beside it.

Harper shook her head. "This wasn't the worst first date ever." She placed her hand under his chin, forcing him to look at her. Her voice was so soft that it gave Stiles butterflies.

"I took you somewhere you insisted on not going and you broke your finger. That kind of sounds like the worst first dater ever." He grumbled, looking at her with sad eyes.

The empath smiled at him. "This will be the most cute story to tell, Stiles. Think about it. If we go on- if our relationship lasts years and years and people ask us what our first date was like- we can tell them this story. That I broke my finger on our first date and then you helped me. It's dorky, like all those cliche movies I watch that you hate."

Stiles looked at her fondly. "I guess this would be a cute story to tell."

Harper grinned at him, "hell yeah it would."

The Stilinski boy leaned in, about to kiss Harper when a scream erupted throughout the ice rink. Both pulled away from each other, their eyes falling on Lydia. She was on her knees in the middle of the ice, screaming as she looked down at it.

Stiles grabbed Harper, helping her rush over to the strawberry blonde. Harper dropped to her knees, quickly attempting to console the frightened girl. Lydia was so uncontainable that Stiles quickly stepped in, helping Harper keep her still.

Allison and Scott quickly rushed in from where they had been at the photo booth, shooting Stiles and Harper worried looks. They could only reply with the same thing, because neither of them knew what the hell was going on with Lydia Martin.

...

Harper giggled as she pulled Stiles into her house, the two of them silently shutting the door and kicking their shoes off into the basket. The petite girl raised a finger to her lips, warning him to be quiet as she rushed up the stairs, her hand in his.

Knowing that Harper's grandma was already in bed, they snuck into Harper's bedroom and turned the fairy lights down, Harper pulling Stiles down onto the bed beside her. Stiles' head collapsed onto her blue pillow case, sighing at how comfortable her bed was.

He put his hands under his head, allowing Harper to curl up into his side and rest her head on his chest. She wrapped her arms around his torso, inhaling his sweet scent and sighing blissfully. Stiles moved his arm from behind his head to wrap around her frame, pulling her even closer than before.

"I love you." Stiles murmured. "And I'm sorry for breaking your finger."

Harper rolled her eyes, smiling. "I love you too, Stiles. And it doesn't even really hurt anymore- like a dull sting."

"Still." Stiles let out a shaky breath. "I don't ever want to hurt you again. I hated seeing you in pain."

The brunette tilted her head to the side as she leaned up on her elbows to face him. "Technically, Scott was the one that actually broke my finger."

Stiles sighed again, his eyes taking in hers. To most, they were just plain brown, but to him, they were so much more. Only he noticed the golden specks around the edges and the way they lit up or when they looked dull and sad. Stiles had never thought much of brown eyes, until he met Harper Verum.

His eyes then flickered down from her eyes to her full lips. He couldn't help it when she was so close to his face, just staring at him. Stiles saw her glance down at his lips and took it as an invitation- leaning up and pressing his thinner lips against hers.

He let out a sigh of pleasure and Harper smiled slightly, moving her lips against his to keep up with his slow, but extremely passionate, rhythm. She moved her body so that she wasn't at such an awkward angle, her upper half hovering over him slightly. Stiles noticed the way that she was craned and placed his calloused hands on her hips, gently pulling her so she straddled him.

They both blushed at the position, but oddly Stiles felt more confident. He had never had a pretty girl on top of him kissing him before, so he didn't really know where to place his hands. He decided on moving them slowly up from her hips to her face, cupping her cheeks. Stiles knew where he wanted to put them, but he wasn't sure if she wanted it too.

Harper's hands were tangled in his hair, tugging it slightly when Stiles' hands brushed against her neck. He groaned into her mouth, an unfamiliar feeling filling Harper. She had never been so attracted to the boy beneath her. She wanted Stiles, she craved Stiles.

"Harper are you-" The door suddenly opened and light poured through, only to reveal Rose Verum.

She froze when she saw Harper and Stiles, the two teenagers quickly falling away frloom each other. Stiles crossed his legs uncomfortably, since he had gotten a little bit too excited. They went red, avoiding all eye contact with the old woman in front of them.

"Grandma." Harper whined, extremely embarrassed.

Rose didn't know what to say. "Oh, I, um." She looked between them both. "Stiles, maybe its best that you go home now. It's late and your dad is probably expecting you."

Stiles nodded quickly, "yes, um, that sounds like a great idea." He scrambled off of Harper's bed, shooting her an apologetic glance before slipping past Rose and out of the door.

Harper sighed as her grandma hesitated before leaving. The Verum girl slumped back down, pressing her face against the pillow where Stiles had been only seconds ago. She could still smell his signature scent on her bedsheets, filling her nostrils and creating a warm feeling inside of her.

She sat like this for a few minutes, her eyes closed as she thought about what had just happened with Stiles. How far where they going to go? Were any of them going to stop? Did either of them even want to stop what they were doing?

Her phone pinged, causing her to quickly jump into action. She grabbed the iPhone off of her bedside table and turned it on.

From Stiles: sorry I had to leave... hope your grandma doesn't hate me too much oops

To Stiles: she doesn't. well, she didn't say anything, but I'm sure she doesn't. x

From Stiles: you should go to sleep now, we have school tomorrow x

To Stiles: okay, night stilinski. i love you

From Stiles: i love you too, verum. so much.

...

The next day, at school, Harper had gone with Scott to confront Erica. Scott wanted to know who Derek was going to bite next to join his pack while Harper wanted to know both that and why Erica had accepted the bite in the first place. The Erica that Harper knew was so innocent and kind- nothing like this new Erica.

The blonde turned around from her locker to face Scott and Harper, a small smirk on her face. Harper and Scott didn't flinch, holding their plain expressions.

"Two's not enough for Derek, I know he needs at least three." Scott jumped straight to the point. "So who's next?"

Erica scoffed and closed her locker before turning to face them. "Why does there have to be a next when we've already got you?" She walked closer to Scott.

"Who's next?" Scott raised his voice.

Erica cocked her head to the side. "You know, I never knew what I looked like during a seizure until someone took a video of me once and put it online."

Scott shook his head, "I don't care."

Harper's eyes softened as she looked over the girl, now knowing exactly why she had taken the bite. Erica didn't want to have seizures anymore, she didn't want people to look at her oddly- she wanted to be confident. Erica hadn't even made eye contact with Harper yet.

"It happened during class." Erica continued, ignoring Scott's comment. "I started seizing up in my desk and everyone was saying how they should put something in my mouth until some genius reads the card on my key ring which not to cause it could break my teeth."

"Erica." Harper mumbles softly, tears filling her eyes.

Erica had tears in her own eyes as she carried on, "you know what happens next?" She doesn't even look at Harper, the tears leaving as she chuckles dryly, "I piss myself. And they start laughing."

The blonde took a few steps forwards, backing Scott up. "You know, the only good thing about seizures was that I never remembered them. Until some brilliant jerkoff..." She slammed him against the blue lockers. "Had to go and put cameras in everybody's phone."

She put her hands either side of his head and Harper noticed Allison down the hall, staring at them sadly. "That's right." Erica mumbled. "You only have eyes for her."

Scott suddenly grabbed her by her wrists, causing her to gasp. He slowly pushed her backwards and she grinned, chuckling before walking away. Harper looked back to where Allison was, only to see that she was gone.

Harper took off down the hall after Erica, grabbing her wrist and pulling her into the girls bathroom which was thankfully empty. Erica gasped a little, a smirk crossing her face when she realised who it was.

"Harper Verum." She faked a pout. "Why'd you never tell me that you were an empath?"

Harper glared, "how do you know?"

Erica rolled her eyes, chuckling dryly. "Oh Derek told me everything. Hunters, werewolves, you. It hurts that you didn't tell me- I thought that we were friends, Harper."

"We were friends." Harper furrowed her eyebrows together. "We're still friends, for god's sake, Erica. Why... why are you acting like this?"

Erica rolled her eyes once more. "Because, Harper," she backed the smaller girl into the corner. "People like me now that I'm hot. I'm every boy's dream... every girl's dream." She smirked down at Harper. "I can hear your heart beating fast."

Harper pursed her lips together, "maybe because you've just turned into a freaking werewolf and you're backing me into a corner."

Erica cocked her head to the side, smirking. "We're still friends, Harper Verum." She tucked some of Harper's dark hair behind her ear. "But just like you always did... I have bigger priorties than you right now. So see ya."

And with that, the blonde waltzed away, leaving Harper utterly stunned.

...

"Come on," Stiles grabbed Harper's arm, leading her away from some people that she was talking to. "We gotta go to Boyd's house."

Harper's eyebrows furrowed together as she followed unwillingly. "Vernon Boyd?" She questioned, recieving a nod from Stiles. "I can't, I have a meeting with Morrell-"

"This is really important, okay?" He inturrupted her, pulling her out into the car park.

"More important than my mental health?" Harper retorted, causing Stiles to stop dragging her, "just kidding, I wasn't gonna go anyway."

Stiles sighed, "Boyd's not at school today and Scott and I are convinced that he's about to get bitten by Derek- or he already has. Scott's at the ice rink now looking for him."

They climbed into his jeep. "Maybe he's just sick?" Harper offered. "You know, there are probably about a hundred kids that are not at school today- why Boyd?"

"He's perfect, okay. He sits alone, he has no friends, and that seems to be the kind of people that Derek is targeting." Stiles told Harper as he sped down the road towards Boyd's house.

"The vulnerable ones." Harper muttered under her breath.

Within a couple of minutes they had already made it to Boyd's house, both running up the steps to knock on his door. Stiles yelled his name, knocking harder when no reply came. He even checked through the window closest to them.

"Hey, Boyd? It's Stiles!" He yelled.

Harper groaned, turning around only to bump into someone. She took a step back, Stiles grabbing her arm when they came face to face with Erica.

She giggled innocently. "What are you doing here?"

"Um, nothing, ur, just looking for..."

"Boyd?" Erica flashed a grin.

"Yes." Harper nodded quickly.

"You know what you're doing now that's kind of funny?" She looked towards Harper. "You know what you're both doing now that's kind of funny? You're both only looking in my eyes."

"That's funny?" Stiles questioned, tightening his grip on his girlfriend's arm.

Erica nodded, tilting her head. "Because it's that kind of look where you're trying hard not to look anywhere but my eyes. But you want to, don't you?"

They both shook their heads and Stiles spoke up, "not really, no."

Erica took a step back. "Oh. So it's just my eyes?"

Harper nodded, "yep. You have very beautiful eyes."

Erica smirked at her old friend. "I have beautiful everything."

"And a new found self-confidence." Stiles quickly butted in. "Congratulations, Erica. We should get going."

Erica quickly grabbed him. "You're not going anywhere."

"Why not?" Stiles challenged.

She lifted up something that looked like it belonged in a car. "You're having car trouble." She then smacked it around Stiles' head, sending him straight to the ground.

Erica didn't even need to do the same with Harper, since the empath had already felt the awful pain and then collapsed right down beside him.

...

Harper woke up at the same time as Stiles did, due to the fact that she had been connected to him. The first thing she noticed was how dark it was, and how badly it smelt.

She heard Stiles groan from beside her and she noticed the pain in her head. Well, Stiles' head, but oh boy was she feeling it. Stiles scrambled to get up, lifting the two doors above them.

Erica had thrown them into bins.

Harper rolled her eyes as she and Stiles got up, Stiles holding his head and wincing at the sudden light in his hazel eyes.

"Bitch." He cursed the new werewolf under his breath before turning to face his girlfriend and raising an eyebrow. "What was that all about?"

Harper stared at him in confusion, holding her head. "What was what all about?" She muttered, wiping something disgusting off of her knitted jumper.

"The whole 'you trying not to stare at Erica's chest' thing." Stiles replied as if it was obvious.

"I'm not gay." Harper replied quickly.

"I never said you were." He answered slowly. "Are you sure?"

Harper scoffed, "I'm dating you, bloody hell Stiles!" She laughed dryly as they climbed out of the bins. "I'm not a lesbian."

"But-"

The brunette groaned, "oh my God."

Stiles helped her out of the bin. "Not even a tiny bit bi?"

Harper furrowed her eyebrows at her boyfriend. "Do you want me to be?" She accused.

Stiles shook his head quickly. "No! I mean, I don't care... as long as you still love me. I just wanna know, you know?"

It was Harper's turn to shake her head. "I'll always love you, you dork." She kissed him.

Stiles pulled away, "I just- if you ever wanna tell me something, you can, yeah? If you're bi, if you decide you wanna dye your hair purple and drop out of school, if you realise something new about yourself... I just wanna know."

Harper stared at him oddly. "Okay. But for the record, I am not bi."

Stiles nodded, "and that's totally okay. Perfect, because that means I have three point five billion less people to be jealous about." He joked.

Harper just laughed, pulling him down into a kiss. "Dork."


	33. Chapter 33

"Hey, hey!" Stiles yelled as he approached the mechanic working on his jeep.

After Erica had taken parts out that definitely shouldn't be out, Stiles had no choice but to go and get it looked at professionally. This was nothing some duct tape and hope could fix.

Harper followed behind him, watching as the mechanic drilled something into the bottom of Stiles' car. He had offered to ask his dad to drop her off home, but Harper had wanted to stay with Stiles for as long as she could. She didn't really feel like being alone, especially after what Scott and Allison had saw the other night.

Apparently, while Harper, Stiles, and Derek were breaking Isaac out of his cell, Allison and Scott had come face to face with a human-sized reptile with razor sharp teeth and claws longer than werewolf ones. The thought of yet another supernatural creature being introduced to Beacon Hills scared the life out of Harper.

"Wha-what do you think you're doing?" The Stilinski boy snapped. "All I needed was a starter."

Harper didn't see a problem with whatever the mechanic was doing, but then again, she didn't have a clue about cars- she didn't even have her own driving licence.

The mechanic replied without even looking at them, "yeah, but it looks like your whole exhaust system has gotta be replaced too."

Stiles didn't look pleased. "Why do I get the feeling you're slightly overestimating the damage?"

"Probably gonna run you around, like, twelve hundred parts and labour."

Stiles' face contorted into a look of disbelief. "Are you kidding me?" He cried. "This thing doesn't even have a catalyctic converter. And, yes, I know what a catalyctic converter is."

The mechanic finally stopped drilling to turn around and face them. "You know what a limited slip differential is?"

Stiles stuttered before admitting, "no."

Smug, the mechanic turned back around and continued drilling. "Yeah, could run you more like fifteen hundred."

Stiles sighed loudly, "okay, just finish. I'll be back here-" he then added quieter for only Harper to hear, "seething with impotent rage."

Harper giggled as she walked along side him, reaching the door that lead out of the workshop and into the waiting rooms. Stiles clasped the door handle, pulling his hand back when a wierd substance came off of it.

The empath almost gagged, "ew, what is that?"

Stiles just cringed, "nice." He muttered sarcastically. "Real sanitary. Quality establishment you're running here." He yelled back for the mechanic to hear.

He opened the door, closing it behind Harper and then wiping the strange substance onto his marroon jacket. Harper sat down on the seats situtated next to the door, leaning her head back to rest. Stiles, however, remained stood up as he pulled out his phone, muttering something under his breath.

The sound of something dropping caused Harper to look up quickly, confusion filling her. It came from both herself and Stiles as she saw he had dropped his phone, his hands shaking. He grunted, staring down at his hands as if he couldn't move them. Harper quickly stood up, concerned.

"Stiles?" Harper worried. "What's going on?"

Stiles quickly looked up at her, his eyes wide. "Don't connect yourself to me." His voice came out strained, his eyes showing nothing but struggle and desperation.

Harper looked at him frantically, "I don't know how to disconnect from anyone! I'm connected to everyone around me!"

Stiles grunted again, and Harper could feel her hands start to tingle. Something caught his eye passed her, and looking through the glass window and into the workshop, he saw the human sized lizard that Allison and Scott had told them about.

"H-Hey!" He grunted, trying to yell. "Hey!"

The mechanic didn't hear him, only tearing away from his job when the lizard raised a claw to the back of his neck, making a straight cut across the back. Harper felt her own neck start to trickle with blood and her eyes widened as she collapsed, just like the worker.

Stiles collapsed right down beside her, his body unable to stand any longer. While Harper couldn't move at all, Stiles managed to wriggle towards his phone, using everything he had inside him to get there. He could see the mechanic through the glass door as the lizard pressed a button, the apporators with the jeep on slowly starting to come down on top of him.

Stiles let out a strangled grunt. "Harper!" He cried, feeling tears pool his eyes, his hand still trying to get to his phone. "Disconnect yourself right now!"

Harper let out a dry sob, only able to move her head, everything else paralysed downwards. She didn't know how to disconnect, she had only ever read about it online. The teenage girl struggled, her face going red as she battled with her own mind.

Stiles mangaed to type in '91', his heart pounding out of his chest. He had to save the mechanic, even if he didn't know him- it was the human thing to do. But he also didn't know if Harper would die too, since she was connected to him. Stiles couldn't risk it, he couldn't risk his girlfriend dying.

"Harper! You're- you're gonna die."

The empath barely heard his words, too consumed in trying to remember everything she had ever read on empaths. Harper took a deep breath, swallowing thickly as she closed her eyes.

"Come on, Harper." She mumbled to herself, tears streaming down her face along with sweat from her forehead. "You can do it."

She didn't know what happened, but it felt like something inside her just snapped. The brunette let out a whimper, feeling everything come back to her, the anxiety of everybody else leaving, taking a massive weight off of her shoulders. Harper moved quickly, scrambling up to her feet.

The brunette didn't know what to do, looking between the mechanic and the door handle and the six foot lizard crawling around inside. Stiles was panting on the floor, trying to say something to her, but she couldn't listen, she just knew that she needed to help. Harper couldn't watch this man die.

She quickly wrapped her hand around her knitted jumper, opening the door, ignoring Stiles' strangled screams of protest. Before Harper could even take a step further, the six foot lizard came out of nowhere, hissing at her. She fell backwards, scrambling as she tried to back away, her hands shaking as it moved just in time for her to see the mechanic get crushed.

...

Police cars and ambulances had turned up at the garage ten minutes ago, including Rose and and obviously Sheriff Stilinski. While Noah spoke to Stiles in the back of an abumlance, Rose had pulled Harper into the back of another one to talk to her.

"Harper." Rose called the distant girl's name, snapping her bony fingers in front of her face.

The brunette's head snapped up in Rose's direction, and her brown eyes softened. "I saw a man get killed, grandma." She whispered, running a shaking hand along her cheek, getting rid of the fallen tears.

Rose's face fell and she sighed, "oh, sweet pea." She croaked.

Rose wrapped her granddaughter into a tight hug, and Harper accepted it, not even mad at her grandma anymore. Today made her realise that anybody could go at any minute, so there was no point in her being upset with her grandma for long. They wrapped their arms around each other, Harper sniffling a little.

"I don't know what to say." Her grandma admitted as the pulled away.

Harper grabbed her grandma's hand, pursing her lips. "Can you tell me the truth?" She questioned.

Rose knew exactly what her granddaughter was talking about and she sighed. "Darling, maybe not today..." It was Rose's turn to look distant, her green eyes darting everywhere but Harper's face.

"Then when?" Harper asked, eyes longing. "How can we be a loving family if there's no trust? How can I tell you how I feel if you won't even tell me what's going on in your life?"

The lump in Rose's throat grew bigger. "I don't know how to tell you." She whispered, looking down. "I don't want you to hate me or be upset."

Harper could feel her heartbeat quicken with every word that left her grandmother's thin lips, her palms sweaty as she grabbed her grandma's hand, feeling herself becoming more anxious. She bit down on her bottom lip, trying not to throw up from nerves.

"Don't sugar coat it, grandma." Harper pleaded. "Just tell me. I can handle it."

"I don't think you can." Her grandma shook her head, taking a deep breath, choking a little. "I don't know how to tell you this. I've been replaying in my head since I found out, but none of the words sound right. So... I'm just going to say it, okay? And we'll take it from there. You can ask your questions, be mad at me, whatever else."

"What is it?" Harper sounded completely desperate, but she didn't care.

"I have stage four lung cancer."

And then came this unavoidable feeling of dread. It was possibly the worst sensation that Harper had ever felt, that feeling of hopelessness and sadness. Her throat felt like it had closed up, tears immediately pooling in her eyes. Her stomach was doing flips, and her hands felt numb in her grandmother's. She began to tremble, unable to think properly.

Rose Verum was Harper's grandma, and more importantly the only family she had left that actually loved her. The only family she had left to look out for her, the woman who had raised her through her teenage years, wiped her tears and whispered words of comfort when Harper couldn't sleep. She was all Harper had left.

And she was dying.

The kindest woman that Harper knew was dying or the most cruellest, heartless condition to ever exist. It had taken her granddad, and now it was taking her grandma, too. Everyone she loved was dying, and she didn't know what to do, or how to react.

Her grandma teared up, wrapping Harper into a hug. Harper inhaled the scent of her perfume, feeling her body shake as she sobbed into Rose's cardigan. She scrunched the material up in her fists, her sobs loud and heavy. Harper didn't care who heard, she was too upset. Harper was destroyed.

"Grandma," she cried, unable to contain herself.

She was a mess and she couldn't stop shaking. Rose knew it was a bad idea telling her in public, but Harper had insisted, and they promised on no more lies or secrets. The old woman sighed as she ran a trembling hand through Harper's knotted hair, looking across the car park to see Stiles and Noah staring at them worriedly.

She shook her head at them, warning them not to come over.

Harper pulled away after a couple of minutes, wiping her nose as she sniffled. Her mascara had made dark circles around her eyes and half of her makeup had washed away from her tears and the amount of times she had rubbed her face.

"How long have you known?" Harper whimpered, holding her grandma's hand. "Have you been getting treatment like granddad did?"

Rose frowned sadly at her, "I've known for a while. First they diagnosed me with bronchitis, but it didn't go away for a long time, so they tested me again, and they gave me an inhaler- said I had asthma. But then you took me in to the doctors, and they signed me over to the hospital- which is why you saw me there. They diagnosed me with stage four lung cancer."

Harper looked like a kicked puppy, her bottom lip trembling as she cried silently, her shaking hands wrapping around her grandma's for some sort of comfort.

"A-and the treatment?"

Rose shook her head. "I have two months to live, maximum."

Harper didn't know what to say. She wanted to be angry at her grandma for not telling her, for smoking when she knew something was already wrong with her lungs- but she couldn't be mad. All she could feel was sadness, coming from the both of them. She was quickly wrapped into another hug, and the tears fell again.

...

School had finished less than a minute ago, but Stiles was already in his powder blue jeep, speeding out of the high school car park with one destination in his mind- Harper's house. The petite brunette hadn't been at school all day and she had texted him in the morning telling him not to pick her up.

He assumed Allison or Lydia was giving her a ride, but they said they hadn't heard from her all day either. So, with a six foot killing lizard on the loose, Stiles decided that it was perfectly reasonable for him to be worried about his own girlfriend. Plus, he needed to talk to her about last night.

Once the police had turned up they had been torn apart from each other and they hadn't spoken since. He had seen her crying, no, sobbing, in her grandma's arms last night, and he needed to know if she was okay. It had been killing him all night and all day that he hadn't spoken to her since the incident and the mechanics.

Not only was he worried, but he needed help.

Stiles had done some researching and figured out that everything they needed to know about supernatural creatures would be in a beastiary- a book about the supernatural, and they needed it to figure out what the creature was in order to put a stop to it. He had spoken to both Allison and Scott about it, and Allison said that she had seen her grandfather with a leather book the night before.

They had whipped up a plan, but Stiles wanted Harper to be involved. He knew she didn't like it when she was out of the loop, so he was going to tell her about it.

The Stilinski boy practically fell out of his jeep as he rushed up the porch steps, knocking on the front door. When nobody answered after two minutes, he took it upon himself to open the door. He dug his keys out of his pocket, finding the one that was colour coded for Harper's house.

Stiles had a copy made for every key he thought would be important- his own house and jeep of course, Scott's house, Harper's house, and he had secretly had a key made for the sheriff's station.

He entered quietly, shutting the door behind him in case her grandma was home. Stiles stumbled into the living room, surprised when he saw Harper and Rose curled up on the sofa, asleep in each other's arms with the TV playing in the background. He couldn't help but smile, letting out a small 'awe'.

Harper's eyes suddenly flickered open and Stiles freaked out, quickly dropping to the ground as if it would hide him. Rose woke up from the sudden noise, the two Verum's staring at him in utter confusion as he rolled off of his back and back up onto his knees, smiling sheepishly at them both.

"Stiles?" Harper yawned, rubbing her eyes. "What are you doing in my living room?"

Stiles chuckled nervously, "you weren't answering your phone. I got worried."

Rose grinned at the two of them tiredly. "Aw, young love." She sighed, stretching out her hands as she sat up. "You two have your moment, I'm going to light a -"

"Nope." Harper grabbed her grandma's arm, pulling her back a little. "No more cigarettes, grandma. You promised."

Rose sighed, "oh, yes, yes. I forgot, I'm sorry, dear."

Harper just pursed her lips and nodded as her grandma said something about making tea before leaving the room. Stiles was confused but shook it off as he stood up, sitting down on the coach next to his girlfriend. He wrapped an arm around Harper, pulling her into him.

She held his hand which was a little awkward from the medical tape wrapped around her broken finger. Their hands remained on their laps and she watched them, glad that Stiles was there with her. It was a relief after the emotional day she had had with her grandma, talking about what she had found out yesterday.

"Are you okay?" He asked softly after a while, his deep voice sending shivers down Harper's spine.

Harper nodded, "just some family problems."

Stiles knew that from the shortness of her answer that she didn't want to talk about it anymore and nodded, respecting her decision. He might ask her another day, but for now he was there until she needed him.

"Okay," he moved to tuck some hair out of her face. "I have a mission for you, if you're feeling up to it."

Harper smiled at him, "oh, I'd love a distraction right now."

Stiles grinned before telling her his plan.


	34. Chapter 34

Harper and Stiles both winced as a lacrosse player from the opposite team ran straight into number nine, sending him flying through the air only to land on the hard ground with a thump.

Gasps were heard all around the bleachers and Coach threw his hands up in the air, "come on!" He yelled. "Is that thing even a teenager? I wanna see a birth certificate?"

He pointed towards the guy from the opposite team, who in all fairness, did look like he was in his late twenties. His build was so much bigger than the other players- nobody else even stood a chance up against him.

Coach sat back down next to Harper and Stiles. "Who or what is that genetic experiment gone wrong?" Coach Finstock muttered, not even bothering to tell Harper to go back up to the stands.

She had been to every single lacrosse game and pratice since freshman year, so Coach had said that it was only fitting that she was allowed to sit down on the bench with the team. He had a small soft spot for Harper, since it was basically impossible to hate her.

"Eddie Obomowitz, Coach." Stiles replied, rubbing his arms through his Adidas tracksuit as they sat in the cold. "They call him 'The Abomination'."

Coach rolled his eyes, "oh, that's cute." He muttered, turning away from them.

Harper glanced over at her boyfriend and away from the field, taking a few moments to admire him. She loved what he was wearing- while she thought loads of people looked douchey wearing Adidas tracksuits, she had decided that her boyfriend was a definite exception. In fact, this was probably one of her favourite looks on him.

Stiles noticed her staring and turned to face her, blushing slightly. "What?" He asked quietly.

Harper grinned, "I'm just so lucky to have you, Stilinski."

Stiles laughed happily, taking her hands and squeezing them gently, being careful of her broken finger.

"Likewise," he replied, wrapping an arm around her shoulder to try and warm the both of them up. He turned his head, noticing Allison waving at them. "C'mon."

Harper stood up, walking towards where Allison was sat at the end of the bleachers. As they walked past, Harper reached up and casually took the keys that Allison was holding out for her. They began to run to through the car park and towards Gerard's office.

The empath stopped when she felt an overwhelming sadness hit her, causing Stiles to stop too. He turned around, running a hand through his buzz cut as he stared at her in confusion.

"Harper, we have to go-"

"Lydia's upset," Harper tossed him the keys. "You go on, I'm gonna see what's wrong."

Harper turned to walk towards a parked car and Stiles grumbled something under his breath before following her. No way was he leaving her alone with that thing on the loose.

Harper knocked on the window and Lydia sobbed, "go away, Harper."

The brunette frowned, "Lydia."

"I said go away, Harps. I don't need anybody seeing me cry." Tears ran down Lydia's face as she tried to hide herself from Stiles and Harper.

Harper rolled her eyes. "Lydia, how many times have you seen me cry?"

Lydia sniffled, looking up at her. "I don't know, maybe about ten, fifteen times?"

The empath chuckled, "yeah, because I trust you, Lyds. And you should trust me enough to tell me what's wrong with you, too."

Lydia took a deep breath as the tears stopped falling. Harper felt Stiles tug on her arm, probably as a reminder that they had more important places to be. She ignored him.

"You're gonna think I'm crazy." Lydia whimpered.

"Trust me," Harper sighed. "There is not anything you could say that I would think was crazy. Not after these past few months."

"Literally nothing." Stiles added from behind her. "Can you give us five minutes?"

Harper turned to look at her boyfriend, sending him a glare. Lydia did the same thing, looking at Harper as if to tell her to make her boyfriend shut up.

"Stiles, you can go by yourself." Harper looked at him pleadingly, "you have my number, okay? Call me if something bad happens."

Lydia glared at the two of them, "why would anything bad happen?" She demanded to know.

"No reason." Stiles replied quickly, before turning to Harper, "please?"

Lydia groaned, "oh my God, Stiles. Get a hint- go!"

Stiles saw the glare hardened on her face and scrambled away from her car, raising his hands up in defence.

"Okay, okay." He licked his lips nervously before looking across at his girlfriend, his eyes softening, "text me every few minutes, okay?"

Harper nodded, "Okay."

...

Harper had only needed to spend another couple of minutes with Lydia before she was okay again. The strawberry blonde had practically kicked her out of her car, claiming she wanted to go and watch Jackson on the field, just to rub it in his face that she was still perfectly fine after their break up.

The brunette had reluctantly let her go, but Lydia had been persistent, and Lydia always got her way.

As Harper walked into the school, she pulled her phone out of her back pocket and began to text Stiles.

To Stiles: I'm here. Heading to the office rn

She had no reply, but she didn't think anything of it. 

Once she had reached Gerard's office, she found the door wide open, the keys in the lock, but no Stiles in sight. Harper frowned deeply, pulling out her phone to text him again.

She was halfway through a message when something whizzed past her at a high speed, making her heart skip a beat. The thing was suddenly behind her, and she could feel as it began to stand up onto its feet, it's figure towering over her tiny frame. 

Then she could feel it breathing down her neck, quick and hard. It's breath was cold, and she knew it wasn't human. She couldn't feel a single emotion coming from it.

Reluctantly, the brunette turned around, her phone dropping to the floor and her eyes widening when she saw the six foot lizard behind her.

Before she could scream out for Stiles, it reached forwards, swinging it's arm down her arm. She cried out as it cut her, blood staining her shirt. 

Her knees buckled at the sight and she watched as the lizard rushed away, in the direction of the sport department.

"Stiles!" She cried out, followed by a whimper.

She couldn't finish her sentence to warn him, wherever he was, because she passed out.

...

Hands shook her awake, and she felt water drip onto her face. Blinking quickly, Harper looked up at her boyfriend hanging above her, Scott right behind him. They both looked worried.

Harper noticed that Stiles was completely soaked, causing her to frown.

"What happened to you?" She questioned.

"The lizard thing kept Derek and I hostage in the freaking pool for two and a half hours." He explained, "what happened to you?! You're arm is bleeding."

"It is?" I turned my head to the side, seeing it clearly stained red, "I can't feel it."

"Yeah, because you're paralysed from the neck down." Stiles pointed out the obvious, "Scott, help Harps up. I can't feel my arms still."

Scott nodded, before swooping Harper up into his arms and holding her bridal style. The trio began to walk to the car park, ready to go home.

...

"How are we supposed to figure out what that thing was?" Harper groaned as they looked through the beastiary that Scott had discovered was on the USB stick connected to Gerard's keys. 

It annoyed Stiles that it had literally been in his hands and they still ended up wasting an entire three hours of their lives.

Harper's paralysis has worn off a few minutes ago, and Stiles had wrapped a bandage around her arm, though it thankfully wasn't still bleeding.

Scott's laptop rested on his mum's car as they scrolled through it, only it turned out to be in another language- Harper guessed probably Latin. Just as Stiles was about to say something, Derek and Erica strolled over.

"It's called the Kanima." Derek told them.

"You knew the whole time." Stiles glared at him, clearly pissed off.

"No." Derek explained. "Only when it was confused by it's own reflection."

Scott frowned, "it doesn't know what it is."

"Or who." The alpha added.

"What else do you know?" Harper asked.

"Just stories. Rumours."

"But it's like us?" Scott questioned.

Derek nodded, "it's a shape shifter, yes. But it's- it's not right. It's like a..." He thought for the word.

"An abomination." Stiles finished for him.

Derek just nodded, silence filling the air. He and Erica turned to leave when Scott called out his name, stopping them in their tracks.

"We need to work together on this." Scott almost pleaded with him. "Maybe even tell the Argents."

"You trust them?" Derek glared, his voice raising.

"Nobody trusts anyone. That's the problem. While we're here, arguing about who's on what side, there's something scarier, stronger, and faster than any of us, and it's killing people!" Scott yelled. "And we still don't even know anything about it!"

Derek just stared, not affected by Scott's yelling. "I know one thing." His voice was monotone. "When I find it... I'm gonna kill it."

And with that, he was gone.


	35. Chapter 35

Harper sat down at the back of the classroom next to the desk that Lydia was currently sat at. Stiles and Scott had already sat next to each other on the other side of the room, and Harper hadn't seen much of the strawberry blonde, so she decided to switch it up a bit. Besides, she needed a break from all of the supernatural drama currently going on in her life. 

Before the brunette could even start a conversation with her friend, Coach Finstock slammed some papers down on his desk, indicating the start of his lesson. Harper straightened up in her seat, preparing herself in case she was picked on.

"Alright, listen up." Coach looked around the classroom. "Quick warning before we begin our review. Some of you, like McCall, might want to start their own study groups, because tomorrow's midterm is so profoundly difficult... I'm not even too sure I could pass it."

Harper inwardly groaned at the thought of a difficult test. She had so much going on in her life right now that an economics test was not what she needed.

"Okay, I need a volunteer at the board to answer the first question."

Hands raised from all around Harper, but she daren't put her hand up. She would probably have a meltdown if she was chosen to write on the board in front of the whole class.

"Let's go buddy." Coach pointed to a guy in a leather jacket with dark hair, much to the Empath's relief.

Harper slumped in her chair, copying the notes off of the board into her book so she could prepare for the upcoming exam. She could faintly hear the sounds of Scott, Stiles, and surprisingly Jackson murmuring, but she didn't bother to look over. She wasn't going to get distracted and fail this test tomorrow. 

"Jackson!" Coach Finstock suddenly yelled, causing the whole class to jump and stare. "Do you have something you want to share with the rest of the class?"

"Um..." Jackson stalled, looking around the room. "Just an undying admiration for... My coach."

Finstock scoffed, "that's really kind of you." He paused. "Now shut up! Shut it! Anybody else?"

Lydia was called on for the next question and Harper sighed, knowing she wasn't going to be able to talk to her friend any time soon. Harper was half way through copying her notes when she felt an overwhelming sense of panic spread through her, causing her to drop her pen.

It clattered on the desk as she looked up, seeing that the one panicking was clearly Lydia. The strawberry blonde was stood in front of the board, a piece of chalk clutched in her hand as she shook, her eyes wide and tears spilling. She let out whimpers as Coach Finstock called her name.

Lydia finally snapped out of it, blinking quickly.

"Okay, then." Coach turned to face the class. "Anybody else want to try answering? This time in English?"

Harper frowned deeply as the whole class began to laugh, looking behind Lydia's head to see what she had written. Due to the endless amount of word games that her grandma solved in the newspapers, she was able to decode the word that Lydia had written over and over again all over the board quickly.

'EMPLEHENOEMOS' translated to: 'SOMEONE HELP ME'.

...

Chemistry was next, and Harper sat down in her usual seat, a couple of rows behind Lydia. She pulled out her notebook, flipping through the pages to find the notes that she had taken last lesson. Just as she did, someone quickly sat down next to her with such force that it made her jump.

She guessed it was Isaac, her usual Chemistry partner, but instead she saw Stiles sat there, looking at her sheepishly. Isaac stood behind him, clutching his bag as he sent the Stilinski boy glare before sitting down next to Erica.

"What?" Harper whispered, confused.

Stiles just shrugged. "Wanted to sit next to my beautiful girlfriend." He grinned awkwardly, causing Harper to shake her head.

"Einstein once said: "Two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the universe, I myself have encountered infinite stupidity." Harris stopped by Harper and Stiles' desk to pat the latter's shoulder.

Harper glared at him.

"So, to combat the plague of ignorance in my class, you're going to combine efforts through a round of group experiments. Let's see if two heads are indeed better than one. Or in Mr Stilinski's case, better than one."

"I hate him," Harper whispered to Stiles as her brown eyes glared at the mouse-like man standing at the front of the room now. "Like, I literally hate him."

"I know," Stiles whispered, placing his hand on top of hers to assure him that Harris' dumb words hadn't hurt him. "Me too."

Their teacher cleared his throat, sending Stiles and Harper a small glare as a warning to shut up. They were more surprised that he had't made some witty remark about smacking Stiles with a ruler or something. 

"Erica, you take the first station. You'll start with-"

Half the class raised their hands, mainly boys. Erica smirked from her seat.

"I didn't ask for volunteers. Put your hormonal little hands down." Harris rolled his eyes. "Start with Mr McCall. Alright, next two."

Stiles quickly turned to Harper, "don't talk to Erica or Isaac, okay?"

"Wh-"

"I'll tell you later. Just don't!"

...

Harper ended up with Isaac first, much to Stiles' dismay. He was trying to protect her because Derek and his pack were doing tests. Not regular question and answers to find out who the Kanima was, but life-threatening, paralysing tests. 

Apparently, Derek thought that Harper could be the Kanima because she had been so easily controlled by Peter on the night of the winter formal and she had 'suspiciously' left when he and Stiles were trapped in the pool. He said that the world knew little to nothing about Empaths, so anything was possible.

It didn't make sense to Stiles- how would Harper turn into a lizard if she was an Empath? Not only that, but she had been at the garage with Stiles when the Kanima had attacked the engineer. Jackson told them that they were taking no chances though, and it was Stiles' word against theirs when he insisted Harper had been there at the time. 

"Of course Stiles would try and protect Harper, even if he knew she was the Kanima. Harper could become a serial killer and Stiles would still lie to his own dad about it and help her hide the freaking bodies," Derek had apparently said, which Stiles had to admit, did sound about right. 

Of course Harper didn't know, he didn't want to make her panic.

He had no choice but to watch as they interacted, smiling at each other while Harper did most of the work and took the notes. Isaac kept looking back at him and smirking, just to show off.

The bell chimed and Harris called for everyone to swap over, much to Stiles' relief. He ended up next to Isaac while Harper was with some random girl he had seen in his math class.

Isaac smirked at him, sitting down as Stiles unscrewed the cap off of a plastic bottle, sighing loudly.

"If you harm one perfect honey brown hair on her head, I'm gonna turn your little werewolf ass into a fur coat and give it to her as a birthday present." Stiles threatened.

Isaac laughed dryly, "really? I don't think she would like that, you know, since we're so close now. I even tried to ask her out once."

Stiles resisted the urge to glare as he poured the solution into a beaker. "Sounds like the beginning to a heartfelt story. I'm gonna pass, thanks."

Isaac ignored him. "It was the first day of freshman year..."

"And you thought that everything was going to be different for you in high school, but she said no." Stiles rolled his eyes, knowing exactly how cliche Isaac's story would be.

The Stilinski boy had gone through the same thing, after all. When he started high school he thought that Harper would finally notice him romantically and they would run off together into the sunset and suddenly become the power couple of the school, replacing Lydia and Jackson.

But, of course, it was just a dream. Being one grade higher didn't automatically mean you were Harper Verum's dream guy, unfortunately for Stiles. At least he had her now, though.

"Yeah. Yeah." Isaac chuckled sarcastically. "I sat next to her in English for two years in middle school and she looked at me like she had no idea who I was when I asked her out."

"Mmm. Unrequited love's a bitch." Stiles muttered. "Maybe you should write about it in your English class, you know? Channel all that negative energy."

Isaac hummed, as if considering it. "Nah. I was thinking I'd channel it into killing her. I'm not very good at writing."

Stiles finally looked up at him, eyes wide with fear. He didn't know that Isaac was lying. He didn't know that Isaac wouldn't even dream of harming the girl he had liked for years and recently became good friends with.

The bell dinged. "And switch," Harris called.

Stiles quickly got up to move to Harper's table, pushing Isaac in the process in case he tried to sit with her again. Just as he sat down, Harris smacked his hand with a long ruler, causing him to yelp. Harper's head snapped up to face the teacher and she had to clench her fists. 

"If you're trying to test my patience, Mr Stilinski, I garuntee it will be a failing grade." He threatened.

Stiles unclenched her fists gently as he walked away from their desk. She burned holes into the back of the teacher's head.

Stiles brought her fingers to his lips, kissing them gently. "Don't worry about that jerk, okay? Let's just do this."

Harper sighed but nodded, helping him finish the experiment. The entire time she missed the glances of Stiles, Scott, Allison, Isaac, and Erica- she was oblivious to the way Isaac was smirking from beside Lydia and how Erica was threatening Allison.

The bell dinged again. "Time," Harris called. "If you've catalysed the reaction correctly, you should now be looking at a crystal."

Harper used the beaker tongs to reach into the glass container, pulling out a crystal. She grinned at her work, showing it to Stiles who just smiled weakly back, looking between her and Lydia nervously. Lydia was inspecting her own crystal that Isaac was handing out to her.

"Now, for the part of that last experiment I'm sure you'll all enjoy, you can eat it."

Scott watched as Lydia shrugged, picking up the crystal and moving it towards her mouth. He caught sight of the Kanima venom dripping off of it and yelled, "Lydia!"

It was too late, she had already eaten it. Everybody stared at her in confusion, Erica and Isaac surprised. Isaac was glad it was Lydia and not Harper, but then that meant that when she ate her crystal, she would be paralysed.

"What?" Lydia glared at him.

"Nothing." Scott muttered quickly, sitting down.

Stiles caught on quickly with Isaac and Erica's plan and turned to Harper, grabbing the beaker tongs from her and throwing the crystal across the room so it went out of the window.

"Stiles!" Harper hissed. "What the hell is going on?"

Stiles looked back at her, "I'll explain later." He gulped, slumping back in his seat. He was just relieved that he had stopped his girlfriend from being paralysed in front of the whole class, and that she wasn't the Kanima. 

...

From Grandma: fancy dinner out tonight? x

Harper grinned at the text message as she walked down the hall, her eyes attached to the small screen in front of her as she quickly typed back.

To Grandma: yeah! meet you after school x

The brunette slipped her phone back into the pocket of her denim skirt just as a hand reached out and grabbed her arm, tugging her into a room. She shrieked, quickly thinking of the worst.

"Don't shoot me, I'm pregnant!" Harper yelled, quickly putting her arms up to cover her face.

"What?!" She heard three shrieks.

Harper opened her eyes, an awkward smile crossing her face when she saw Stiles, Scott, and Allison stood there. Scott and Allison looked at Stiles who jerked his hands about, shooting a strange look at Harper.

"Oh, God." Harper muttered, rolling her eyes. "Obviously I'm not pregnant. I just freaked out."

"Okay..." Scott continued to stare at her strangely. "Anyway, we need to tell you something. Something important."

Harper sighed in relief, "is this about what happened in Chemistry? Because I am so confused. But not about the work, I actually did well that lesson- I finished the experiment- wait, wait, wait. Sorry I got distracted."

"Isaac and Erica covered yours and Lydia's crystals in Kanima venom." Allison explained.

The Empath's eyebrows furrowed together. "I don't understand. Why Lydia and I?"

Stiles groaned, "because Derek thinks that one of you are the Kanima. That's why I threw your crystal away... But Lydia... she ate it."

Harper's eyes widened. "Is she okay?"

Scott nodded. "Oh she's perfectly fine, and that's the problem. She wasn't paralysed by the Kanima venom, Harps. That means they think she's the Kanima. And now Derek's waiting outside for her."

"Waiting to kill her?" Allison asked, frowning.

"If he think's she's the Kanima, then yes, especially after what happened at the pool." Scott replied, looking at them all worriedly.

"It's not Lydia." Harper shook her head, her throat tight when she thought about her friend possibly being the six foot lizard that tried killing Stiles and Derek.

Stiles placed a hand on the small of Harper's back. "Babe... she didn't pass the test. Nothing happened," He spoke softly, not wanting to upset her.

"But it can't be her..." Harper was a little dazed, her eyes glossing over as Stiles rubbed her back comfortingly, his hand moving up to rest on her shoulder.

Allison shook her head, "it doesn't matter, because Derek thinks it's her. So, either we can convince him that he's wrong, or we've got to figure out a way to protect her."

"I really don't think he's gonna do anything here, not at school," Scott insisted.

The hunter stared at him. "What about after school?"

Scott sighed, fustrated. All four teenagers looked around at each other nervously, trying to think of something.

"What if we can prove that Derek's wrong?" Allison attempted a plan.

"By three O'clock?" Stiles raised his eyebrows at her, not sounding confident at all.

Allison looked up at him. "There could be something in the beastiary." She guessed.

"Oh, you mean the nine hundred-page book written in archiac Latin that none of us can read? Good luck with that," Stiles spat at her rudely.

Harper gasped, "I know someone who can read it."

"I can talk to Derek," Scott ignored her. "Maybe convince him to give us a chance to prove that it's not her. But if anything happens you guys let me handle it, okay?"

"What does that mean?" Allison murmured.

"It means you can't heal like I do," He told her. "I just don't want you getting hurt."

Allison turned around, grabbing her bag off of the high stall that it was placed on as she fished through it. The other three teenagers all glanced at each other, watching in confusion as she pulled something large out of it. Her bow.

"I can protect myself." She insisted.

Scott just stared at her, his eyes softening.

"What?" Allison put the bow down. "Did something else happen?"

Scott didn't say anything for a few seconds. "I just don't want you getting hurt." He replied, his voice barely above a murmur as his brown eyes bored into hers. "Seriously, if anything goes wrong, you call me, okay? I don't care if your dad finds out. Call, text, scream, yell, whatever. I'll hear you and I'll find you as fast as I can. We have until three."

Allison nodded as Scott began to walk away, about to turn the door handle when a hissing noise came from behind him. He whirled around, eyes wide as he catched the arrow that was less an inch away from his face. Harper turned to face her boyfriend who was holding Allison's bow awkwardly.

"Ah." He handed it back to the hunter. "Sorry. Sorry. It's a sensitive trigger on that."

...

"Do you mind me asking where you got this?" Ms Morrell looked up from the page Harper had copied from the beastiary in her hands. "A book?"

The Empath had used her counselling session to talk to Ms Morrell about the beastiary instead of her feelings. Harper knew that not only was Ms Morrell a French teacher, but she knew a whole load of other languages, too. She just prayed that Latin was one of them.

"Oh, um, yeah. Yeah, a book," Harper replied.

Ms Morrell nodded, not looking convinced at all. "Interesting book. I'm pretty familiar with most romance languages, but this is a little out of my reach."

"Could you try?" Harper asked politely.

"All right, um," Ms Morrell frowned at the next word. "Kanima." She sounded out. "Do I have that right?"

Harper nodded, "yeah." She whispered, clutching the books in her hands tighter.

"'Like a wolf, its power is greatest at the moon's peak.'." Ms Morrell read before chuckling. "Huh, sounds like a werewolf."

Harper's heart skipped a beat and she nodded, laughing nervously along with her.

Ms Morrell looked back down at the papers and sighed. "Uh, there's some words here that I don't recognise." She looked back up at Harper.

Harper's face fell. "Please, just give it a shot."

"Could I hold onto it for a bit?" Ms Morrell asked.

Harper shook her head. "Now is better, please."

With a sigh, the guidance councellor nodded. "All right. Um... Okay. 'Like the wolf, the Kanima is a social creature, but where the wolf seeks a pack, the Kanima seeks a friend'."

The Empath's face contorted with confusion. "What- what does that mean?"

"Maybe it's lonely." Ms Morrell offered with a small smile.

"Like a teenager."


	36. Chapter 36

"Harper Verum..."

Harper turned around at the sound of her name, but she instantly regretted it when she saw Erica and Isaac stood there, all geared up in their leather jackets and cheesy smirks. The brunette took a step back, wary of how close they were to her. Unfortunately, her back pressed against the brick wall behind her.

"Why are you out here all by yourself?" Isaac questioned, his tone amused. "Shouldn't you be with that boyfriend of yours? What's his name? Miles?"

She rolled her eyes, "you know his name. Why are you both being such... so douchey to me? I was both of your friends before you took the bite from Derek. I don't understand."

Scott had stayed close friends with her after he had been bitten, but her other friends had turned into complete power-thirsty assholes. They didn't even care either, they just smirked.

"Because we have a job, Harper." Erica edged closer towards her. "And when our alpha gives us a job, we complete it."

Her heartbeat sped up at Erica's words. If Lydia had passed the Kanima test, then why did they still want to test her? She gulped, her brown eyes wide as she looked between her former friends.

"I'd love to help you with your job, but I actually have somewhere to be." She gave a sheepish smile, about to move out of their way when Erica grabbed her by the throat, forcing her against the wall.

Harper winced when her head hit the bricks, Erica's rings digging into her soft skin.

"That's a really good grip you got there..." She wheezed. "Would- would you mind letting me go?" Her voice broke the longer she was being held.

Isaac clenched his jaw from behind Erica. "Put her down." He demanded. "She's not going anywhere, Erica. So put her down."

Erica growled slightly, her hazel eyes flashing a golden colour as she dropped Harper. The Empath sighed in relief, her hand going to massage her neck as she glared at Erica. The werewolf glared back.

"Derek wants Lydia not me, so leave me alone." Harper tighened her grip on the straps of her backpack, holding it closer to her.

Erica smirked, "the last time I checked, you can't pass a test by not completing it."

She lifted her fist up, quickly moving it to slam it into Harper's face. The brunette dropped to the floor quickly, eyes wide as she frantically scrambled away on her hands and knees. She heard Erica cry out as her fist slammed into the wall and Isaac growl at her.

Harper managed to get up onto her feet and she dashed across the car park to where she saw the familiar blue jeep. She had never been so thankful to see Stiles, Allison, Lydia, and Jackson inside it. She opened up the passenger door, slamming it shut as she buckled up quickly.

"Hey, what's-"

"Drive." Harper rushed quickly, looking through the window to see the two werewolves coming towards them. "Bloody hell, Stiles! Drive, drive, drive!"

Stiles obeyed, quickly taking off out of the car park. He kept stealing worried glances at his girlfriend as she rubbed her neck, continuing to look back in concern. 

"What the hell happened?" Lydia questioned from the back seat. "What happened to your neck and why were you running?"

Harper turned to face her. "Sore throat. Oh, and I saw Ms Redsoft and I didn't hand in my English homework last week so I had to leg it." She lied convincingly, though everybody but the strawberry blonde knew that it wasn't true.

"Oh..." Lydia sighed. "I thought you were passing Economics easily. Why are you in this study group?"

The teenagers had told Lydia that they were going to Scott's house to study for the upcoming Economics test, but it was just a coverup for what they were really doing- saving her life. Lydia was unknowingly in a lot of danger, so they were protecting her there.

"Same reason as you." Harper replied. "I'm helping."

Lydia just nodded, but she didn't look convinced.

About five minutes later, the blue jeep finally pulled up outside the McCall household, much to Harper's relief. The five teenagers all piled out of the car and onto the pavement, Harper's arm instantly linking with Lydia's as she guided her up the concrete stairs.

"If we're studying at Scott's house, where's Scott?" Lydia questioned as she looked up at his house with raised eyebrows.

"Meeting us here." Stiles told her as he unlocked Scott's door with his spare key. "I think. I hope."

As soon as they were all inside, Stiles turned around and locked all three locks on the door, drawing the curtains shut on either side where there were glass windows. He peered through them before turning around.

Lydia raised her eyebrows at him.

"Uh..." Stiles stalled. "There's been a few break-ins around the neighbourhood."

He spotted a wooden chair beside the stairs and grabbed it, quickly wedging it underneath the door handle. Harper had to refrain from yelling at him how completely obvious he was being. Lydia wasn't stupid, she would figure it out.

"And a murder." He lied, causing Jackson to sigh. "Yeah, it was bad."

They remained in an awkward silence for a few seconds before Allison gave a pointed look towards Jackson. Jackson rolled his eyes before turning to his ex girlfriend.

"Lydia, follow me. I need to talk to you for a minute." He jerked his head towards the stair case.

Lydia sighed, "seriously?" She groaned. "What is going on with everyone?"

They walked away and Harper turned to face Stiles and Allison.

"Erica and Isaac tried to get me to do that stupid Kanima test in the school car park after school." Harper announced, causing both of them to look panicked. "They said that you can't pass a test if you haven't taken it."

Stiles ran a hand through his buzz cut, "oh God. So not only are they after Lydia, but they're still after you? This is just great. Perfect."

Harper bit her lip. "Why do they even think it's me? Derek knows what I am."

Allison frowned deeply, "human?"

"Empath." Harper sighed, realising that nobody had told Allison yet.

The hunter's eyes widened. "You're an Empath? Gerard told me that there is only one family left in the whole world. That's you?"

"That's me." Harper nodded, rubbing her temples. "Empath- not a Kanima."

"It's such a bad theory, but Derek thinks that because Empath's can be controlled quite easily, that you are a part of it. He thinks that there might be more than one." Stiles continued to check out of the window.

He suddenly froze, causing Harper and Allison to look at him strangely. The Stilinski boy turned around, horror written all over his face.

"They're here." He tossed Allison his phone, telling her to call Scott and get him to come to his house.

Harper looked out of the window through the curtains, her eyes wide when she saw four very familiar figures standing across the street. Derek, Isaac, Erica, and Boyd all just stood there, staring at the house eerily. Her heart skipped a beat and she pulled away from the window, frightened.

...

Night had fallen and the four werewolves were all still stood outside the house, this time talking to each other. Allison had her bow in her hand ready, and Harper was stood next to Stiles, anxiously waiting for their first move. Were they going to wait for them to come out, or were they going to break in?

Scott had said that he was on his way ages ago, but so far there had been no sign of the only nice werewolf in Beacon Hills. Stiles was getting stressed, mumbling words under his breath as he stood at the window, running his hand through his hair continuously.

Allison kept looking down at her phone, and Harper noticed her typing something. "What are you doing?" She asked quietly.

"I think..." Allison sighed sadly. "I think I need to call my dad."

Stiles' eyes widened, "but if he finds you here, you and Scott..."

"I know." Allison paused. "But what are we supposed to do? They're not here to scare us, okay? They're here to kill Lydia, and potentially Harper."

Nobody said anything as Harper moved forwards, taking Stiles' sweaty hand in her own. She lifted her other hand up, squeezing his hand gently, avoiding her broken finger. His hazel eyes casted down to her and he let out a shaky breath, moving her hands up to kiss them.

"I got an idea." Stiles suddenly spoke up. "Just shoot one of them."

Allison scoffed, "are you serious?" She whispered back, raising her eyebrows.

"We told Scott that we could protect ourselves, so let's do it. Or at least give it a shot, right? Look, they don't think we're gonna fight, so if one of them gets hit, I guarantee they'll take off. So just shoot one of them."

"This is a bad idea." Harper shook her head, but made no attempt of stopping her friends.

Allison peeked through the curtains. "Which one?" She asked, swallowing thickly.

"Uh..." Stiles glanced out the window. "Derek. Yeah, shoot him, preferably in the head."

Harper chimed in, "guys, if Scott was able to catch an arrow, then I think Derek definitely could."

Stiles nodded quickly, "okay, just shoot one of the other three then."

"You mean two?"

"No, I mean three."

The couple both pulled back the curtains, their eyes widening when they saw that there was indeed only three werewolves stood outside. Derek, Erica, Boyd... but no Isaac.

"Where is Isaac?" Harper hissed, feeling a queasy feeling in the bottom of her stomach. It was as if her heart was in her throat and she couldn't breath.

Allison shakily took a step back, raising her bow so that it was level with one of them. Suddenly, hands ripped her off of her feet and threw her across the room so she landed on the floor with a loud thud. Isaac then shoved Stiles away from Harper, causing him to land on the living room floor.

His eyes glowed yellow as he grabbed the only brunette left standing, pulling her up off of her feet.

"Found him." Harper gulped.

She watched as Allison quickly scrambled up the stairs to find Lydia out of the corner of her eye, Stiles watching them worriedly as Isaac pulled something out of his back pocket. It was a tiny glass bottle filled with what appeared to be Kanima venom.

Stiles scrambled to get up and Isaac flung his claws out, holding them to Harper's neck. "This doesn't have to get messy, Stilinski." He spat, flipping the cap on the bottle.

Harper struggled in his iron grip. "Let me go, Isaac." She grunted. "You know I'm not the Kanima."

Isaac's grip on Harper loosened when somebody grabbed him from behind, throwing him backwards. Harper fell onto the wooden floor beneath her, cringing at the impact on her hands and knees as she quickly crawled over to Stiles who grabbed her, pulling her into his embrace.

They watched as Scott threw Isaac around his hallway, growling and snarling at the younger werewolf. Harper pulled herself and Stiles up to their feet, backing away as they continued to fight until eventually, of course, Scott won.

...

Scott threw Erica and Isaac's bodies out of his house and onto the grass directly in front of Derek and Boyd's feet. Derek smirked up at Scott, Allison, Harper, and Stiles, unfazed by the fact that two of his beta's were injured.

"I think I'm finally getting why you keep refusing me, Scott." Derek raised an eyebrow. "You're not an omega. You're already an alpha of your own pack." He suddenly smiled. "But you know you can't beat me."

Sirens began to wail in the distance as Harper and Stiles shared looks, edging closer towards each other.

"I can hold you off until the cops get here." Scott glared down at him.

A hissing noise came from the roof above them, causing everyone to tense. The four teenagers on the porch rushed off to stand next to Derek and Boyd, trying to get a look at the Kanima. It screamed at them, making Harper flinch and take a step back.

And then, it took off.

"Get them out of here." Derek told Boyd, gesturing down to the unconscious Isaac and paralysed Erica.

Lydia suddenly rushed out of the house, tears streaming down her face. "Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" She yelled.

Everybody gaped at her. They were sure that when the Kanima came out of Scott's bedroom window that it had been her.

"It's Jackson." Harper realised, looking to where it had run off to.

But it was long gone.


	37. Chapter 37

Allison pulled up to Lydia's house, or more like mansion, letting out a sigh as she turned the engine off. Harper watched from the backseat as Allison turned to face the strawberry blonde, rubbing her temples to ease her stress.

"I need you to promise that you won't say anything about what just happened." Allison looked Lydia directly in the eyes.

"I'll promise not to say anything about what just happened if you can tell me what the hell just happened." Lydia stressed, looking between the two of them with wide eyes.

Harper cleared her throat, "it's a little complicated."

"Well, how about you start with why was Derek was there? Or where Jackson went, or what is wrong with Erica?" Lydia hissed, growing angrier with the more confused she got.

Allison threw her head back, sighing. Harper also hesitated, causing Lydia to scoff. "Oh, do you need a minute to come up with a plausible lie?"

"Part of the reason why I'm asking is because Scott and I aren't meant to be seeing each other, okay? So it's better if you just keep what you know to yourself." Allison pleaded, her brown eyes shining with hope.

"Fine." Lydia snapped. "I'll keep what I know about you and your boyfriend- which is nothing- to myself."

She then opened the door, swinging around to leave the car. Before she could, Allison placed her hand on Lydia's arm, gently pulling her back.

"Hey." Her face softened. "He's not just my boyfriend. You get that, right?"

"Let me go." Her green eyes flickered down to Allison's hand on her arm.

The hunter ignored her. "Just for one second, please, try and remember-"

"Remember what?!" Lydia threw her hands in the air.

"Remember what it feels like." Allison swallowed. "All of those times in school when you see him standing down the hall, and you cannot breathe until you're with him."

Harper's heart skipped a beat from the backseat, immediately starting to think of her own boyfriend. Of Stiles Stilinski, the boy with the crappy jeep and the awkward haircut- the boy that loved her. She knew exactly what Allison was talking about, but she knew that Lydia unfortunately couldn't relate to them.

Unlike their boyfriends, all of Lydia's had been douches, especially Jackson. She was only with him because of the whole popularity thing, but she did start to love him along the way. That didn't mean they were perfect though, in fact, they were so, so far from it.

"Or, those times in class when you- when you can't stop looking at the clock because you know that he's standing right out there waiting for you. Don't you remember what that's like?" Allison spoke with such passion that you could see it in her eyes.

Lydia looked a little dazed. "No." She whispered.

"What do you mean, 'no'? Lydia, you've had boyfriends." Allison frowned.

"None like that." Lydia whispered again before opening the door and leaving.

...

"I want to die in Brighton."

Those were the first words that Harper heard as soon as she walked through the front door. Rose didn't question why she was out so late, she didn't ask her where she had been, who she had been with, or even why she hadn't told her that she was going out in the first place.

"You do?" Harper's voice was quiet as she kicked her shoes off into the shoe basket beside the door. She avoided eye contact with her grandma, not wanting to upset her by being sad.

Rose nodded, a fond smile on her face. "I already paid for the plane tickets. We can go there during the summer. I want to die where I grew up."

Harper swallowed thickly. "Okay."

She didn't want to ask questions in case she upset her. Like, would they stay with her auntie and cousins? And when Rose died, would she come back to Beacon Hills, or would she stay in England with the only family she had left?

"You missed dinner, by the way." Rose mentioned as she took Harper's coat from her. "They gave our table to somebody else."

Harper's heart automatically dropped. "Grandma-"

Rose shook her head, "no need to apologise, dear. You're young and having fun with your friends. You should make the most of it, because the next thing you know you'll be sixty three and needing help to climb out of the bath."

Harper smiled sadly at her. "You should ground me."

The old lady frowned, swatting her hand. "I am not mad at you, sweetie. You could have texted, but I made another reservation for next week. And I even booked a table for four."

"For four?" Harper repeated, confused.

Rose nodded eagerly, "yes! For four!"

"Who else is coming?"

"Well, I was thinking that you could invite Noah and Stiles. Both of your families could spend some time together, before-"

"Before I don't have any family left." Harper cut her off, sighing.

Rose's face fell. "Oh darling." She took the teenager into her arms as she began to cry. "Sometimes family is not blood, but the people that we care about. Scott and Stiles are you family, sweet pea. Nothing could ever tear the three of you apart, you're a force to be reckoned with."

Harper sniffled, "I don't want you to die. I don't want you to leave me behind."

Her grandma stroked her hands through her hair. "When I am gone and you are feeling sad, I want you to look up at the sky at night time. Look at the stars. The brightest one out there, that will be me. Okay? That will be me looking down at you and smiling."

Harper gripped her grandma tighter. "I love you." She whispered.

"I love you too, Harper." Her grandma replied, her voice shaking slightly.

Her grandma went to bed a few minutes later and Harper went outside into her front garden, sitting on the steps as she took a few minutes to breathe in some fresh air. It felt nice to have the cold air on her skin and the slight breeze in her hair.

Just as she was about to go back inside, a very familiar looking car pulled up in front of her, the tires screeching loudly. The window rolled down revealing her boyfriend with a smirk on his face.

"Get in loser, we're going Kanima hunting."

...

Stiles and Harper rushed up behind Scott who was peeking around the corner of some club, concentrating on the people that were lining up to go inside. Harper reached up on her toes and grabbed his shoulders, causing him to jump and whirl around.

"Sorry, sorry-" Harper quickly apologised, putting her hands out in front of her. "Is Jackson here?"

Scott sighed, "I lost him."

"What? You couldn't catch his scent?" Stiles scolded, his eyebrows furrowing together as he stared at the werewolf in front of him.

"I don't think he has one." Scott replied, his voice low as he looked back at the queue.

Harper tugged on her bottom lip with her teeth as she thought deeply. "Do we have any clue where he's going?" She asked.

"To kill someone." Scott looked at her as if she was stupid.

"Ah, that explains the claws, and the fangs, and all that." Stiles commented sarcastically. "Makes perfect sense now."

Scott just turned back around to glare at him, causing Stiles to quickly become defensive.

"What? Scott, come on. I'm one hundred and forty seven pounds of pale skin and fragile bone, okay? Sarcasm is my only defence."

"Just help me find it." Scott looked at them both pleadingly.

Harper sighed, "not 'it', Scott. Jackson."

"I know, I know." The werewolf sighed.

"All right, but does he know that? Did anybody else see him back at your house?" Stiles urged Scott for an answer, trying to think of something that could potentially help them.

"I mean, I don't think so, but he already passed Derek's test anyway." Scott looked confused.

"Yeah, but that's just the thing. How did he pass the test?"

"I don't know." He groaned.

"Guys," Harper interrupted. "Snakes can't be poisoned by their own venom, at least that's what Derek said. So, when's the Kanima not the Kanima?"

The three of them remained in a silence for a few seconds before Scott spoke up, "when it's Jackson." He realised.

Stiles stared at his girlfriend, adoration in his hazel eyes. "God, I could so kiss you right now."

Scott cringed, "please don't."

Stiles backed away just as Harper and Scott looked around the corner at the shortening line.

"Uh... Guys." Stiles stammered as the two joined him, seeing the tail of the Kanima sway as it entered the building through an open window. "See that?"

"He's inside." Scott muttered.

"What's he gonna do in there?" Stiles looked to Scott for the answers, who's face suddenly contorted into one of realisation and panic.

"I know who he's after." The werewolf rushed.

"Can you smell something?" Harper asked urgently.

"Armani."

Harper's eyes widened, "Danny."

...

Stiles attempted to budge the door at the back of the club, grunting when it barely moved. Harper took a step back, looking up to see if there were any windows that they could climb into. Her boyfriend did the same thing, assessing the situation.

"All right, uh- maybe there's, like, a window we could climb through, or some kind of..." Stiles trailed off as Scott placed the broken door handle in his hands. "Handle that we could rip off with supernatural strength. How did I not think of that one?"

"Come on." Harper muttered, grabbing his hand and following Scott who had already gone inside.

They caught up with their friend and went through some doors, the electronic music instantly making Harper's ears ring. Lights flashed from all around them and more than a hundred people were dancing everywhere. And by people, Harper meant only men.

It didn't take her long to realise that they were in a gay club.

She snickered, amused as she looked around at all of the men dancing on each other and just generally having a good time. Harper noticed that a handful of them men were shirtless and she couldn't help but gape at one that was dangling from the ceiling from some silky material, showing off to everybody.

"Wow..." Harper trailed off.

"Dude, everyone in here is a dude." Scott yelled above the music. "I think we're in a gay club."

They turned to face Stiles, only to find him in the middle of a group of drag queens. Harper internally screamed, she had never seen any in real life before, and Stiles was lucky enough to be liked by them. They were stroking his hair and giggling, Stiles not looking too amused.

"Wow, nothing gets past those keen werewolf senses, huh, Scott?" Stiles retorted.

Harper's face fell when she saw Danny stood at the bar, getting a drink. The three teenagers rushed over, trying to get closer to him without him noticing. Danny quickly went off in the direction of some shirtless guy.

"Three beers." Stiles slammed his hand down on the table, grinning.

"I.D's"? The bartender looked at them strangely, knowing for a fact that they weren't of age to be drinking.

The two boys pulled their drivers licenses out of their wallets, but Harper just sighed. She didn't have a drivers license or any I.D. The man looked down and laughed before handing them back.

"How about three cokes?" He suggested.

"Rum and coke? Sure." Stiles grinned excitedly before moving his head awkwardly. "Coke's fine, actually. I'm driving anyway."

Stiles bobbed his head along to the music as a shirtless blonde guy came over, placing three cokes in front of them.

"That one's paid for." He jerked his head in the direction of a guy sat across the bar and towards Scott's drink.

Scott smirked at Stiles who rolled his eyes, "oh shut up."

"I didn't say anything." The werewolf grinned, stirring his drink with the straw.

Stiles shot him a look, "yeah, well your face did." He turned around to face the dance floor just like Harper was already doing.

The brunette was trying to look through the crowd to spot Danny, however with a club full of men, she was most likely the shortest one there. Everybody towered over her and he was unable to see past the first few people.

"Hey, I found Danny." Stiles suddenly spoke up, putting his drink down on the bar behind him.

Harper craned her neck to see him dancing with some guy. Scott didn't say anything, causing Harper to turn and look at him. Her gaze flickered to where he was staring, and her heart skipped a beat when she found the Kanima, or Jackson, on the ceiling of the club, crawling along it.

"We found Jackson." Harper gulped as it inched closer to Danny.

Scott's eyes didn't leave Jackson as he said, "get Danny."

"What're you gonna do?" Stiles hesitated.

The two teenagers faintly heard the sound of swiping and looked down, seeing that Scott's usually short nails had morphed into razor sharp claws. Harper couldn't help but wonder if she painted his nails, would they be painted when he morphed, too?

She shook away the thoughts, deciding now was certainly not the time to be thinking about painting Scott's nails a hot pink colour.

"Works for me." Stiles shrugged, turning around to grab Harper's wrist only to find that she had already gone off, her tiny body weaving in and out of men more than a foot taller than her.

Stiles' eyes widened, "What- Harper, wait." He called after her, pushing people by their shoulders as he attempted to go after his girlfriend.

The Empath couldn't hear him over the thumping bass of the music, she tried her best to duck in and out of places, yelling out for Danny. Harper found herself in the middle of a bunch of dancing guys, their bodies literally shoving her in every direction possible.

She glared, moving her arms above her head and shoving everybody out of the way. Some of them looked at her strangely when she shoved them, whilst others were far too drunk to care.

Suddenly, a body dropped down onto the ground right in front of her, causing her to shriek. With wide eyes she quickly scanned her surroundings, but it was far too crowded to see where Jackson was. That, and the smoke machine had just kicked in. Another body dropped beside the one already on the floor, before another, and another, and another.

It took about nine bodies falling to the ground, including Danny himself, for the men around them to notice and they all started screaming and panicking, shoving Harper to get out of the club. A large hand suddenly grabbed her upper arm, pulling her backwards.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Stiles muttered, pulling Harper along with him.

They both ran out of the exit and into the car park, seeing Scott standing over a very naked Jackson out of his Kanima form. Blood was spilling from his mouth and covered his chest, and he was unconscious. Scott moved to check on him.

"What do we do now?"

...

The police and paramedics had turned up on the scene a while ago, and Stiles had had to shove Jackson into the back seat of his jeep in order for nobody to see him. Harper and Scott were on a mission to find Danny. They needed to know why the Kanima had wanted to kill him- after all, everybody loved Danny.

Harper's eyes widened when she saw Danny being wheeled towards an ambulance on a stretcher. She alerted Scott by smacking his arm, pointing towards him. The two teenagers rushed towards him, hovering over his face so that he could see them clearly.

"Danny." Scott breathed.

"McCall? Harper? What are you two doing here?" Danny questioned, knowing for a fact that Scott wasn't gay- and Harper didn't really have any reason to be in a gay club.

"We wanted to know if you were okay." Harper asked as the paramedics carried on pushing him away. They followed beside him.

Scott nodded from beside her, "yeah, and um, I'm wondering if anything weird happened to you today. Besides being paralysed from the neck down." He stuttered.

"Sorry, but we need to get him to the hospital." The paramedic looked up at them both, shooting Harper and Scott an apologetic glance.

"One more question, just one." Scott looked down at Danny. "Are you okay?"

Danny didn't smile or nod, he just asked, "did it happen to my ex, too?"

Harper turned her head, seeing Danny's ex-boyfriend being wheeled into an ambulance, a doctor examining him. She turned back at him and nodded, "yeah."

"Then I'm great." Danny replied, a smile crossing his face.

Scott and Harper both chuckled as the paramedic finally wheeled Danny away. They then rushed towards the jeep where Stiles was watching them from the drivers seat. Scott opened the door, immediately rushing into the passenger seat.

"Woah, woah, woah." Harper grabbed his shoulder. "You're sitting in the back this time, Scotty."

Scott turned to look down at her from where she was still outside the jeep. "No way, I always sit in this seat. You sit in the back."

Stiles shook his head, "she's right, buddy. No way am I letting her sit in the back next to Jackson Whittemore while he's stark naked."

The werewolf shot him a look. "Put your jacket over it!"

The pale boy just shook his head firmly, pointing to the back. Scott groaned loudly, quickly climbing over the seats and awkwardly moving Jackson so he wasn't near him. He grabbed one of Stiles' old sweaters off of the floor and threw it over him as Harper climbed into the front seat.

"We didn't get anything out of Danny." Harper sighed as she put her seatbelt on, turning to face her boyfriend.

"Okay, can we get the hell outta here now, before one of my dad's deputies sees me?" Stiles pleaded, turning around and putting his keys in the engine.

Just as he did so, the wailing of sirens filled their ears and another police car pulled up in front of the jeep. The sheriff's police car.

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God." Stiles ran his hands through his buzz cut. "Could this get any worse?"

Jackson groaned from the backseat, causing Scott to put his hand over his mouth quickly. Stiles whirled around, glaring at the unconscious boy in his back seat.

"That was rhetorical!" He yelled, huffing as he turned back to face the front.

"Get rid of him." Scott warned, eyes wide.

"Get rid of him?" Stiles repeated with a scoff. "We're at the crime scene, and he's the Sheriff!"

"Do something!"

"Okay!"

Harper quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and rushed out of the car, catching up with Stiles who had already greeted his dad awkwardly. She held onto his arm, smiling at Noah nervously. He did not look pleased to see them there.

"What are you doing here?" Noah folded his arms across his chest, staring at the two of them sternly.

"What do you mean what are we doing here?" Stiles gestured to the building behind him. "What? It's a club. It's a club, we were clubbing, you know. At the club."

The Sheriff just raised his eyebrows. "Not exactly your type of club."

"Uh... Well, dad... There's a conversation that-"

"You're not gay." Noah cut him off.

"Wha- I could be."

Harper nodded quickly from beside him, "yeah, he could be."

Stiles sent her a small glare.

Noah shook his head. "You have a girlfriend, Stiles. And definitely not dressed like that."

He began to walk towards Stiles' jeep causing Stiles to grab him, quickly turning his dad around. Noah's face contorted into one of anger.

"This is the second crime scene that you have just happened to show up on." Noah glared. "And at this point, I've been fed so many lies, I'm not sure I know the kid standing in front of me. Now, what the hell is going on?"

Harper hated seeing Stiles getting yelled at by his dad, especially when they both knew that Noah meant it.

"Dad, I-I-" Stiles stuttered.

Noah yelled, "the truth, Stiles."

Harper quickly butted in, "we were actually here helping our friend Danny." She sighed dramatically to make it more believable. "Yeah, he just broke up with his boyfriend. He was so upset about it in chemistry today, so we promised to take him out."

Noah's face softened and he nodded, "well, that's really good of you guys. You're good friends."

Stiles forced a grin and patted his dad's arm before grabbing Harper's hand and pulling her towards his jeep.

...

"Um, what about your house?" Stiles asked Scott as he drove down the road, his headlights illuminating the meandering road in front of him.

Scott looked at him as if he was crazy. "Not with my mum there. What about you, Harper?"

Harper shrugged back at him. "My grandma is always at home now, so there's no way we could sneak him in and get him to stay there for however long. We need to take him somewhere that we can keep him long enough to figure out what to do with him."

"Or long enough to convince him that he's dangerous." Scott added from the backseat.

Stiles sighed, "I still say we just kill him."

"Stiles," Harper placed her hands over her face, leaning her head back against the seat. "We're can't kill him."

"Okay, okay." Stiles sighed, leaving them in silence for a few seconds. "I've got an idea." He suddenly mentioned.

"Does it involve breaking the law?" Scott questioned uneasily.

"By now, don't you think that's a given?" The boy with the buzz cut retorted.

Scott leaned back in the seat. "I was just trying to be optimistic."

Harper chuckled sarcastically, "don't bother."


	38. Chapter 38

Stiles' brilliant plan had ended Jackson locked up in the back of a prison transport van in the middle of the woods. He had been chained up for a few hours now, and they had decided to let Jackson let all of his anger out before they confronted him. He had been screaming for a while, but now he was silent.

The hazel eyed boy used the keys he had stolen from his dad's office to unlock the two back doors, looking at Jackson wearily before he and Harper climbed inside. They sat down on the metal seating on the other side of him, Stiles going through the bag he had brought.

"Okay, I bought you some foo-"

"Let me out now!" Jackson yelled through gritted teeth, lurching forward at them, only to be held back by the handcuffs chained to the seating underneath him.

Stiles threw the bag down and glared at him. "You know, I put those pants on you, all right, buddy? One leg at a time. Being all up-close and personal with you junk wasn't exactly a highlight of my day. So don't think this is fun for me either."

Harper sighed. "What he means is, please calm down, Jackson." She softly spoke, knowing that being angry with him would only get him more fired.

Stiles rolled his eyes. "You know, we're actually doing you a favour?"

"This is doing me a favour?" Jackson pulled up his chained wrists.

"Yes." Stiles groaned. "You're- you're killing people. To death. Yeah. And until we figure out how to stop you, you're staying in here. I'm sorry. Now..." He picked up the bag. "Do you want the ham and cheese, or the turkey club?"

He held them both up, but Jackson just glared at them. Harper reached forwards and took the turkey club from his hand, unwrapping it casually as Jackson carried on with his angry ranting.

"You actually think my parent's won't be looking for me?" He growled as Harper took a bite of the sandwich.

Stiles threw the ham and cheese sandwich at Jackson, who caught it quickly. He then pulled Jackson's phone out of his pocket and showed him the screen where he had been texting Jackson's parents pretending to be the Whittemore kid himself.

"Not if they don't think anything's wrong."

...

"Scales? Like a fish?" Jackson looked at the two teenagers in front of him with an annoyed expression.

"No, more like a reptile." Stiles explained. "Um, and, uh, your claws have this liquid that paralyzes peoples, and you have a tail."

"I have a tail?" Jackson did not sound convinced at all.

Harper nodded from where she was leaning against the back of the van, yawning. "Mhm, a tail." Her voice was just above a murmur.

She was extremely tired from not sleeping in over twenty four hours. After waking up at six for school yesterday, almost being poisoned, protecting her best friend, fighting off werewolves, going to a gay club, stealing a police van, and then trapping a murderous Kanima inside and looking out for him for the past twleve hours, she was so close to falling asleep.

"Mm. Does it do anything?"

"No, not that we know of." Stiles replied with a shake of the head.

Jackson lurched forwards. "Can I use it to strangle you?" He growled.

Stiles didn't even flinch. "You still don't believe me. All right. The night of the semi-final game, what did you do right after?"

"I went home." He spat.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, you idiot. What the hell else would I do?" Jackson hissed.

Stiles rolled his eyes. "You attacked Harper, Derek, and I at the school, and you trapped Derek and I in the pool. You also killed a mechanic- right in front of us, actually. That was lovely. And one of Argent's hunters. Oh, and last night you tried to kill Danny."

"Why would I want to kill my best friend?"

"Scott's trying to figure that out right now." Harper sighed.

"Mm. What, maybe, he should be trying to figure out is how he's going to pay for a lawyer when I prosecute your asses all the way to jail!" Jackson yelled furiously, clenching his fists.

"All right, well, tell me this." Stiles spoke calmly. "On the night of the first full moon, what happened?"

Jackson paused, shaking his head. "Nothing." He muttered. "Nothing happened."

...

Harper was laid down on the hood of the prison van, her eyes closed as Stiles leaned against it, sending text messages from Jackson's phone to his parents. The sound of leaves crunching and twigs snapping came from the distance, causing Harper to sit up. Stiles looked around nervously.

Allison suddenly came out of nowhere, making the two of them jump. Stiles jumped up spastically while Harper jolted, falling off of the van and onto the hard ground beneath her. She groaned loudly, feeling the wind being knocked out of her lungs.

"Ow!" Harper winced as Stiles quickly helped her up.

Allison was panting, "they know."

Harper could feel the anxiety radiating off of the hunter.

"What?"

"They know Jackson's missing." Allison's voice raised with the more panicked she became.

Stiles shook his head, "no, they can't. I've been texting his parents since last night. They don't have a clue." He waved the phone in her face.

"My grandfather told me his parents went to the police." Allison worried. "They know."

Stiles held the phone away from him between two of his fingers, letting out an inhuman noise. He then proceeded to toss the phone at Allison before scrambling to the van, opening the door and pulling out the police radio. Allison and Harper stood behind him to get a good listen.

"All available units proceed to Beacon Hills preserve as instructed." A deputy spoke over the line. "Proceed with caution until Sheriff Stilinski's arrival."

...

"Where are we going?" Harper questioned as she sat in the middle of the seats, Allison beside her and Stiles in the drivers seat.

Stiles dialled Jackson's father's number before throwing the phone out of the window. "Somewhere very far from this." He replied before starting the engine and taking off.

They met Scott at a new location in the woods about half an hour later and parked the van away from the cliff edge. The four teenagers began to walk away from it, standing to look over at the view.

Scott scratched the back of his neck and let out a deep sigh. "If Jackson doesn't remember being the Kanima, he's definitely not going to remember stealing Danny's tablet."

The werewolf had been to Danny's hospital room and found out that there was no way Jackson would want to kill Danny, because Danny was doing Jackson a favour. Apparently, Danny had been fixing a video that Jackson had recorded that had some footage missing from it. Scott thinks that whatever was in the missing footage, the Kanima didn't want Danny telling anyone about.

"Why would he steal the thing if he doesn't even know what's on it?" Stiles muttered, frustrated.

"What if someone else took it?" Harper offered, Allison nodding along from beside her.

Stiles sighed, "then somebody else knows what he is."

"Which could mean that someone is protecting him." Scott realised.

Allison chimed in, "like the beastiary says, 'the Kanima seeks a friend', right?" She looked to the others for confirmation.

"Okay, hold on. So, somebody watches Jackson make a video of himself turning into the Kanima, and then just erases part of it so he wouldn't know?" Stiles processed what he was thinking out loud. "I mean who would do that?"

"The 'friend'." Harper shrugged. "Whoever the friend is, they might be protecting him."

"There's something else." Scott added. "You said the only thing you found online about the Kanima is that it goes after murderers." He looked at Stiles and Harper. "What if it's actually true?"

Harper shook her head, "it can't be. It tried to kill all of us."

Stiles nodded from beside her. "Yeah, and I don't know about you two, but Harper and I haven't murdered anyone lately."

"But I don't think that it was actually trying to kill us." Scott carried on, looking at his secret girlfriend this time. "Remember when we were at Isaac's the first time, it just went right by us, didn't it?"

Allison thought before nodding her head. "You're right, it just ran off."

"And it didn't kill you two in the mechanic's garage." The werewolf turned to Stiles and Harper again.

"Well, yeah, but it tried to kill Harper, Derek, and I in the pool." Stiles muttered.

"Did it?"

"It would've." Stiles snapped.

"What if it was trying to keep you in?"

Harper shuddered and Stiles' mouth fell open. "Why do I feel so violated all of a sudden?" He grimaced.

"Because there's something else going on. We don't know what it is. We don't know anything about what's going on with Jackson, or why someone's protecting him." Scott replied.

For someone failing two classes, Scott had been making a whole lot of sense today.

"'Know thy enemy'." Allison suddenly murmured, and everyone turned to look at her, confused. "Just something my grandfather said."

"All right. I got it." Stiles cut in. "Kill Jackson. Problem solved."

Harper shot him a disapproving glance and he put his hands out in defence.

"Stiles," she sighed loudly. "How many times have I told you? We're not killing Jackson. He risked his life for us, remember? With Peter."

"Yes, but what did we just find out? He got the bite from Derek. It's funny how he just got exactly what he wanted by supposedly risking his life for us, it's funny." Stiles retorted.

Scott butted in, "that doesn't mean he's not still worth saving."

"It's always something with him, though."

"Sti... he doesn't know what he's doing when he's the Kanima." Harper held onto his arm, squeezing it gently in a comforting way.

"So what?" Stiles groaned.

"So, I didn't either." Scott replied, annoyed, turning to look at Allison. "You remember when I almost killed you and Jackson? I had someone to stop me. He has nobody."

Harper felt an overwhelming sadness consume her and realised that it was coming from the van. 

Jackson could hear them.

...

Stiles and Harper were in the front of the police van, cuddled up together while Allison and Scott were in her car. Harper was staring at their intertwined hands, only realising just how small her hands were compared to Stiles'.

"What are you thinking?" Stiles murmured from where his head was resting on hers. "Have you been okay lately? I feel like there's been so much going on that we haven't had enough time to talk about us."

"What about us?"

Stiles shrugged. "Okay, maybe not talk." He turned to face her, a smirk on his face as he leaned forwards, cupping her face. "Can I kiss you?" He whispered.

Harper giggled quietly. "As if you even have to ask." She murmured, removing the gap in between them by colliding her lips with his.

Her hands when to the back of his neck, as she kissed him hard. He kissed back with just as much passion, turning his body so they were sitting less awkwardly. His hands continued to brush against her delicate skin, causing Harper to shiver.

Butterflies filled her stomach as his he pulled away and started to press kisses against the side of her face, slowly his wet lips moving down to her jawline. The kisses grew more sloppy as he reached her neck, sucking slightly. She let out a shaky sigh, her hands gripping the back of his neck as she sat up more, leaning her head back to give him more access.

Stiles didn't stop with his relentless kissing, Harper's fists clenching to stop herself from releasing moans.

"Stiles." She whispered, causing him to groan against her neck.

He pulled away, his warm breath on her neck, hitting the places he had kissed. His eyes widened when he leaned back, chuckling nervously at the purple marks that were covering her pale skin.

"What?" Harper pressed. "What is it, Sti?"

Harper's hand went up to her neck, wincing when she felt a sensitive part of her skin. She glared at him, "you left marks?"

Stiles nodded, "I'm not even sorry." He mumbled, leaning forwards and attaching their lips again.

The Empath had to give into him, she wasn't that mad either. Some concealer and powder would do the job for getting rid of the marks. She kissed him sweetly, not as lustful as they were before.

Suddenly, just as Stiles was about to lean Harper back on the seats, the van rattled and their was a loud bang. Harper and Stiles quickly sat up, only missing hitting each other's heads by about an inch. They climbed out of the van frantically, moving to the back, only to find the doors had been ripped off and Jackson wasn't inside.

Harper rushed over the Allison's car, quickly knocking on the window. She looked inside and saw them laying across the back seat, Allison shirtless and curled up into Scott's chest. Luckily for them all, Harper couldn't see anything.

"Quick, guys. You need to come and look at this." She pointed back at the van.

Once they were both dressed, they rushed over to where Harper and Stiles were still staring at the empty van. They all gaped at it in disbelief.

"I have to tell my father." Allison whispered.

Scott took a few steps away, an odd look on his face, like he was contemplating everything. This situation was honestly so messed up. Of course a police van wouldn't hold a Kanima- they might as well have just not even bothered.

"Scott." The hunter called. "He's going to kill someone."

Scott paused before nodding. "Okay, tell him." He didn't sound sure himself, but Harper knew Scott would most likely do anything if it meant saving someone. "Tell him everything."

"Scott, I gotta tell mine too." Stiles added.

Scott pursed his lips together. "This is all my fault." He muttered, his back still turned to them all. 

Allison shook her head. "It's not. But we have to tell them. We're just a bunch of teenagers. We can't handle this."

"You're right."

Harper turned to Stiles. "How are you going to make your dad believe in the supernatural?"

"I don't know." Stiles murmured, seemingly nervous.

Scott turned to face them, his eyes glowing yellow. "He'll believe me."

...

"Can you buzz us in? I gotta see my dad." Stiles asked the deputy behind the front desk as he, Scott, and Harper stood outside the Sheriff's office.

The man nodded, pressing a button that caused the door to buzz and unlock. Stiles opened the door, the three of them stepping inside only to reveal Jackson and his dad sat there. Jackson was wrapped in a deputy's coat, a smug smile on his face as he stared at them.

The trio stared at them all in shock, panic swelling in Harper's chest. Jackson was definitely not bluffing when he saw he would send them all to jail. And Harper could not go to jail- not with her grandma, and it wouldn't look good on any of her job applications, either. 

"Scott, Stiles, Harper. Perfect timing." Noah greeted them. "Have you met Jackson's father, Mr David Whittemore? Esquire."

Jackson leaned forwards from where he was sat on the couch. "That means lawyer." He smirked at them.

Oh, bloody hell.


	39. Chapter 39

"You will not go within fifty feet of Jackson Whittemore. You will not speak to him. You will not approach him. You will not assault or harrass him physically or psychologically." Sheriff Stilinski dropped the clipboard he was reading from onto the table that the three teenagers were sitting at.

It clanged on the metal table, causing Harper to look up, although she regretted that decision as soon as she did.

Rose, Melissa, and Jackson's dad were standing around them. Melissa looked extremely angry at Scott, who was just looking down at the table, unable to make eye contact with his mother. Stiles just looked ashamed and Harper was devastated.

It seemed like lately all she was doing was making empty promises to her grandma about making her proud, and then going ahead and breaking them. Harper hadn't seen her grandma angry in such a long, long time, but there she was, a scowl on her face as she burned holes into the back of her granddaughter's head. 

A heavy silence filled the room until Stiles spoke up, "what about school?"

"You can attend classes while attempting to maintain a fifty foot distance." Noah replied, clearly tired and stressed out.

"Okay, what if we both have to use the bathroom at the same time and there's only two stalls available and they're only right next to each other?" Stiles questioned, and Harper didn't know if he was doing it to make fun of the whole situation or if he was genuinely being serious.

Stiles was so sarcastic that was hard to tell sometimes.

Harper sent Stiles a small glare while Jackson's dad huffed. Noah folded his arms across his chest and Melissa sighed loudly. Scott didn't even bother looking up from the table, completely done with Stiles.

"I'll just hold it."

...

Harper looked down at the floor while Rose proceeded to yell at her. Yes, yell at her. Rose Verum was yelling at Harper, and Harper didn't blame her. It was almost refreshing to finally hear what Rose had been thinking the whole time, instead of just getting dissapointing looks like normal.

"I can't believe you, Harper Verum!" She yelled, her voice slightly scratchy. "Between what's going on with me and the packing, I can't believe you'd do this! It's almost like you want me to hate you, Harper. Are you really that mad at me?"

Harper was sure that her friends could hear what her grandma was yelling at her, causing her to blush. She hated being yelled at, especially when it was in front of people. What her grandma was saying was completely embarrassing her, and she was clearly talking about her lung cancer, which made the matter a whole lot worse.

"No, grandma." Harper whispered, her voice cracking slightly. "It-it was just a joke."

Rose chuckled dryly, " a joke? A joke!? Harper Jean Verum, this is not 'a joke'. You have been given a restraining order! What do you think your parents would have said, huh? Certainly not good things, that's for sure. Why do you feel the need to go against everything I do lately? Sneaking out, lying, getting detentions, getting called into the prinicipal's office, getting a bloody restraining order! Enough's enough, Harper. You need to tell me what's going on right now."

It hurt Harper what Rose had said about her parents, but she knew that it was true. Her parents had been such quiet, average people. All they ever wanted from Harper was good grades and a good attitude. She seemed to be keeping one of them, but the latter had been a bit harder lately.

"Nothing's going on, grandma." Harper mumbled, tears glossing her eyes over.

Rose shook her head. "Well, clearly something is going on. You can rebel against me all you want Harper, but it's not going to bring your parents back. I'm all you have for now, so you need to tell me what you're thinking. You need to tell me what the hell is going through that head of yours."

Harper wanted Rose to stop talking about her parents. She knew if she carried on talking about them then Harper would have a break down, and she really didn't want to do that.

"It's not about mum and dad." Harper's voice was thick with emotion as she looked up at her grandmother.

Rose raised her thin eyebrows. "Oh really?"

"I know they're dead, and I know that nothing will ever bring them back. I'm not doing this on purpose. I don't mean to be such a failure, grandma. I want to make you proud and I want to make them proud- but I just keep messing up. And I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry." She sniffled to stop herself from crying.

Her grandma wouldn't stop shaking her head as she turned away from Harper. "I'll meet you back at home. You're grounded."

She left, the doors slamming behind her. Harper stood in the middle of the hallway, ignoring the sympathetic looks she was getting from Stiles and Scott, and even Noah and Melissa. The Empath could feel their sympathy, and she hated the feeling with everything inside her.

Harper turned around to face them. "I'll see you at school." Her voice showed no emotion whatsoever, and she wasn't even crying. She just looked so calm.

She nodded towards her two best friends, before going after her grandma. Stiles turned to look at his dad, giving him a pleading look. Noah nodded, and Stiles went after his girlfriend, running down the hall.

He opened the double doors, seeing her walking down the pavement. Stiles called her name, causing Harper to stop. She turned around just as he caught up to her, wrapping his arms around her petite frame. He whispered soothing words and ran his long fingers through her hair, holding her close to his chest.

Harper didn't cry, she was too tired to cry. She just closed her eyes and inhaled Stiles' scent, a feeling of calmness rushing through her. She held onto him as if he was all she had left, which was soon to be true.

...

Harper walked beside Allison into the school library, attempting to ignore the camera that was so obviously following them down the hall. They moved behind a book shelf and the hunter pulled her tablet out of her bag, pushing it through a gap in between the books, Scott grabbing it from the other side.

"It's everything that Lydia could translate." Allison spoke, making it look like she was talking to only Harper. "And trust me, she was very confused."

Harper nodded along to what Allison was saying, putting a show on for the camera that was watching them.

"Yeah, what'd you tell her?" Scott mumbled from the other side, scrolling through the pages of the beastiary on the tablet.

"That we were part of an online gaming community that battles mythical creatures." Allison cringed, trying not to laugh.

Stiles looked deadly serious on the other side of the book shelf as he stared at the two girls. "I am part of an online gaming community that battles mythical creatures."

Everyone turned to stare at him and Harper couldn't help but giggle as Allison became more awkward, giving him a nod of the head.

"O-oh." She pursed her lips together. "Great."

"Okay, does it say how to find out who's controlling him?" Scott questioned, looking up from the tablet to Allison.

Harper shook her head. "No, not really. Although, Stiles was right about the murderers." She mumbled, shooting a quick smile at her boyfriend.

"Yes!" Stiles fist pumped the air.

"In the beastiary, it calls the Kanima a weapon of vengeance. There's also this story about some South American priest who used the Kanima in order to kill all of the murderers in his village-" Harper carried on.

"All right, see? So maybe it's not all that bad." Stiles looked at Scott.

Harper grabbed a book that was on the shelf beside her, opening it on a random page and pretending to flick through it in order to make Allison and herself look more natural.

Harper sent him a look. "You didn't let me finish. Eventually, the bond grew so strong that the Kanima just killed whoever the priest wanted it to."

"All bad, all very, very bad." Stiles muttered.

Allison nodded, "here's the thing, though." She whispered, grabbing a book. "The Kanima's actually supposed to be a werewolf. But it can't be until-"

Scott cut her off, "'until it resolves that in its past which manifested it'." He read from the tablet in his hands.

"Okay, if that means that Jackson could use a few thousand hours of therapy, then I could have told you that myself." Stiles muttered, rolling his eyes.

Harper bit her lip. "What if it has something to do with his real parents?" She wondered out loud. 

Scott nodded at her. "Yeah, does anybody know what actually happened to them?" Scott looked around at the three of them.

"Lydia might." Stiles guessed.

"What if she doesn't know anything?" The werewolf questioned.

Allison and Harper placed their books back in the shelves as Allison spoke up, "well, he doesn't have a restraining order against me, so... I'll talk to him myself."

"Okay, what do I do?" Scott asked.

"You have a make-up exam, Scott." Harper reminded him, and Stiles nodded along with her.

Allison moved her hand through the shelf, gently holding his. "Promise me." She mumbled.

Scott hesitated, "if he does anything, you run the other way."

Allison let go of his hand, standing up straighter. "I can take care of myself." She insisted in a hushed tone.

"Allison, if you get hurt while I'm busy with some stupid test, someone's going to need to take care of me. If he does anything..."

"Like?"

"Anything... weird or bizarre- anything."

Stiles suddenly shoved his head through the shelf. "Anything evil." He hissed.

Allison gave him a look and pressed her hand against his forehead, shoving him back through the book shelf. Harper chuckled as her boyfriend let out a bunch of noises, scrambling to catch the book that he was holding.

...

Harper had insisted on going along with Allison to find Jackson, since she had nothing better to do. It was either that, or go to her meeting with Morrell, and Harper didn't really feel like talking about her feelings today. Harper and Allison had both slipped off their heeled shoes when following him to the boys locker rooms, knowing that he would be able to hear them.

The shorter brunette placed her hand on the door handle just as it opened, causing the two girls to jump back in surprise. Harper had to hide an eye roll when she saw that it was just Matt leaving.

"Oh, you two scared the hell out of me." Matt chuckled, looking down at the shoes that they were both holding.

Harper forced a smile. "Oh, um, sorry, we- we were just, y'know- nothing." She scoffed nervously, glancing down at her cat socks and cringing.

"A- that's a- nice heels." He pointed at their shoes.

Allison looked down at them. "Oh, yeah. My feet were hurting, and so were Harper's. Yeah, both our feet hurting... at the same time." She nodded awkwardly.

"Same reason I never wear mine." Matt joked, actually causing Harper to let out a small laugh.

Allison clearly didn't get it. "What?" She tilted her head, confused.

"Uh, forget it." He shook his head at Allison.

Allison pursed her lips together. "Right... well, if you don't mind, I have someone to talk to." She put her hand on Harper's shoulder. "Harper's right here though, I'll be back in a minute."

Harper mentally glared at Allison as Allison slipped through the boys changing rooms door, leaving her alone with Matt.

Matt smiled at her, "hey, did you hear about the underground show?" He asked while Harper slipped her shoes back on. "Apparently they've got some big names spinning."

Harper looked up from her shoes and smiled politely at him. "Oh, you mean like a rave?"

"Oh, is it still a rave if you don't roll? I just call it a party. But hey, I've got a friend who can hook us up with tickets if you're down. You want me to get you one?" Matt spoke enthusiastically.

Harper tilted her head, "Oh, like a date? Because I have a boyfriend..."

Matt shook his head quickly, laughing nervously. "It doesn't have to be a date if you don't want it to be." He rushed out, obviously afraid that she would say no.

Harper actually felt bad for him. "Okay, sure... As long as it's not a date, okay?"

Matt nodded, a smile on his face. "Yeah, yeah. All right, cool. Um, it's Friday, so... Looking forward to it."

"Yeah." Harper forced a nod and a smile as Matt began to walk down the hall, shooting her a thumbs up.

Harper sighed, closing her eyes for a second just as Scott came rushing down the steps and into the hallway. She looked at him in confusion as he rushed past her and into the locker room, slamming the door open.

The Empath followed him inside only to find Allison on the floor and Jackson frantically pulling his lacrosse shorts over his naked body. Scott looked between them both before his eyes landed on Jackson and he glared, anger radiating off of him.

"I-I'm fine." Allison stuttered. "Scott. Scott, I'm fine."

Jackson looked up, seeing Scott in the door way. Fear filled his eyes and Scott completely freaked out, running forwards and slamming into Jackson, sending him flying against some lockers. They fell down behind him, leaving Jackson furious.

"I have a restraining order!" He screamed, standing up and breathing heavily through his nostrils.

"Trust me," Scott scoffed. "I restrained myself."

And then Jackson launched himself at Scott, slamming him into the wall. Scott grabbed Jackson again, pulling him backwards only for Jackson to suddenly turn, throwing the werewolf into the shower area. Scott climbed back up, growling.

Harper pulled Allison away from them when the fight began to become too much, their bodies flying into walls everywhere, everything breaking around them. Harper had to look away, unable to watch one of her best friends get absolutely crushed by Jackson Whittemore.

Suddenly Jackson threw Scott so hard that Scott fell through the locker room door, landing on the floor outside with a loud grunt. Jackson proceeded to climb on top of him, ready for another go, when Erica pulled Jackson away and Stiles pulled Scott up. Harper and Allison followed them out quickly, Harper moving to stand beside her best friends.

"What the hell's going on?" Harris suddenly yelled from down the hall, quickly coming towards them all. "Hey! Enough, enough! What do you idiots think you're doing? Jackson! Calm down! Mr McCall, you wanna explain yourself? Stilinski? Verum?"

Nobody said anything until Matt suddenly appeared, holding out Allison's tablet. "You dropped this." He spoke.

Harris grabbed it before pointing at Scott and Jackson. "You and you- actually, all of you. Detention. Three o'clock."


	40. Chapter 40

When the bell for the end of the day finally rang, everybody had already made it to the library for their detention. Harper sat down beside Erica and opposite Scott and Stiles while Jackson, Matt, and Allison sat down at another table.

"Oh, uh, we can't be in detention together. I have a restraining order against these tools." He gestured towards their table.

"All these tools?" Mr Harris raised an eyebrow at him.

"No, just us tools." Stiles pointed his finger between the three best friends.

Harris nodded, "fine. You three, over there." He pointed at the empty table next to them.

Harper huffed, grabbing her bag and moving to sit at the table. Scott and Stiles followed her, chucking their bags down underneath and sitting down with the brunette. Scott sat beside Harper and Stiles in front of her.

Scott looked across at Jackson and shook his head. "I'm gonna kill him." Scott breathed heavily.

"No, you're not. You're going to find out who's controlling him and then you're gonna help save him." Stiles protested, holding a finger up to Scott as if he was lecturing him.

Scott looked back from where he had been glaring on Jackson. "No, you were right." He shook his head quickly. "Let's kill him."

Harper sighed, her head falling into her hands. First Stiles wanted to kill Jackson, and now Scott wanted to kill Jackson. It was like a never ending cycle of somebody wanting to kill the Whittemore boy.

"Hey, what if it's Matt?" Stiles muttered quietly as he glanced over at his table. "I mean, this whole thing comes back to the video, right?"

"Danny said that Matt was the one who found the two hours of footage missing." Scott mumbled, his chin leaning on his arms.

Stiles nodded, "exactly! He's trying to throw the suspicion off himself."

They all glanced back over at Matt, seeing him casually eating his crisps without a care in the world. Harper didn't know if now would be the right time to mention that she had agreed to go to a rave with him on Friday night- as friends, of course.

"So he makes Jackson kill Isaac's dad, one of Argent's hunters, and the mechanic working on your jeep?" Scott didn't look or sound convinced at all.

"Yes!"

"Why?"

"Because..." Stiles looked back over to him. "He's evil."

Scott rolled his eyes. "You just don't like him because of the wierd obsession he has with Harper." The werewolf jerked his head towards the brunette next to him.

Harper cringed, deciding now was defintely the time to tell him. "Yeah... Well, he kind of asked me out today..."

Stiles' head snapped around to stare at her. "What? You said no, right?" His voice went higher as he got defensive.

Harper nodded quickly, "Yeah, I told him that I had a boyfriend."

Stiles sighed in relief.

"Which is why we're going as friends." Harper winced as Stiles glared at her. "What? You know me- I can't say no to people. Plus, I told him we were just going as friends, like, twice, and I made sure that he knew it, too."

Stiles scowled, "You can't go anywhere with that guy. I don't trust him, okay? He bugs me. I mean, just look at his face."

They turned around to look at Matt again, seeing him offer a crisp to Jackson, who shook his head. Scott and Harper turned around to face Stiles again, raised eyebrows.

"Any other theories?" Scott questioned.

Harper suddenly felt a piercing ache in her head, causing her to wince. She looked around the room, trying to spot who was in pain. She saw Jackson leant over in his chair, holding his head while he hissed in pain.

"What's wrong?" Stiles whispered to Harper, and Harper just jerked her thumb in Jackson's direction.

The trio watched as Jackson stood up, still holding his head as he grabbed his backpack, slinging it over one shoulder.

"I have to go to the bathroom." He announced, his voice muffled in pain.

"Are you all right?" Mr Harris asked from behind his desk, looking up in concern at the star athlete as he began to walk away. "Hey, you don't look so good."

Jackson huffed, "I just need to get some water."

"No one leaves their seats." Mr Harris warned them all before going after Jackson.

As soon as the door had closed behind him, the three best friends shared a look before darting up from their seats and going to sit at Erica's table again. Harper sat back down beside her, the boys on the other side. Erica didn't look up as she carried on writing in her book.

"Stiles says you know how Jackson's parents died." Scott whispered.

"Maybe." Erica replied bluntly, not looking up from her book.

"Erica, please." Harper sent her a look.

Erica looked up from the book, seeing the amount of despiration in her old friend's eyes made her crack. She sighed, placing her pencil and book onto the table in front of her.

"It was a car accident." She told them all. "My dad was the insurance investigator, and every time he sees Jackson drive by in his porsche, he makes some comment about the huge settlement he'll be getting when he's eighteen."

Stiles turned his nose up. "So not only is Jackson rich now, but he's getting even richer at eighteen? There's something so deeply wrong with that." He scoffed, causing Scott to nod along.

"You know what?" Erica opened her laptop. "I could try to find the insurance report on my dad's inbox. He keeps everything."

"Scott McCall, please report to the principal's office." Mrs Argent's voice suddenly came out through the intercom.

Scott shot Stiles and Harper worried looks before climbing out of his seat and heading towards the office. Harper prayed that Mrs Argent wasn't going to be waiting there with a knife or something. Harris and Jackson came back in the room as Stiles moved to stand behind Harper and Erica, leaning over them to look at the laptop screen.

"Oh, look at the dates." Stiles pointed at the screen which was now showing the insurance claim on it.

Erica began to read from the screen. "'Passengers arrived at the hospital DOA. The estimated time of death- 09:29pm, June fourteenth, 1995'."

Harper's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "But I swear Jackson was born on the fifteenth of June." She glanced over at him, seeing sweat pouring from his face as he stared at the table in front of him.

"Yeah, he was." Stiles sighed, and the three teenagers shared looks.

Mr Harris suddenly got up from behind his desk, zipping up the bag with his laptop inside. Everybody else began to collect their things and stand up too, Harper reaching for her backpack. 

Harris began to chuckle, "oh, no, I'm sorry. Um, yes, I'm leaving. But none of you are. You may go when you're done with the re-shelving." He patted his hands on the top of one of the carts filled with about a hundred books. "Enjoy the rest of your evening."

...

"It means he was born after his mum died- by c-section." Stiles explained to Allison and Scott as they all stood around the cart of books within one of the aisles. "They had to pull him out of her dead body."

Harper sighed, placing a book in its rightful place. "No wonder he's so angry at the world." She muttered, standing the books up properly so that they didn't slant.

"So was it an accident, or not?" Allison whispered.

Stiles shrugged, "the word all over the report is 'inconclusive'."

"Then his parents could have been murdered?" Scott sounded sorry for him.

Harper shuddered, and she couldn't help but think about her own parents. Her parents who went to work one day and never came back because of some angry man with a gun. She would probably never get over their death, but she had learned to not cry in front of anybody about it by now.

"If they were, then it falls with the Kanima myth. You know?" Stiles spoke lowly. "It seeks out and kills murderers."

Harper frowned. "But for Jackson? Or whoever's controlling him?"

"We have to talk to him. We have to tell him." Scott rushed, looking slightly panicked about the whole situation.

"He's not gonna l-" Scott cut Allison off by pushing past them and out of the aisle.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, glass shattered from above them and something dove from one book shelf to another, creating an entire mess with it. Books and glass from the lights fell from the ceiling, causing Stiles, Harper, and Allison to all panic.

Another bang came directly from above them as Scott yelled Erica's name before releasing a roar, and then the ceiling was crumbling from above them. Stiles grabbed a hold of Harper's body just as part of the roof was about to fall on her, shoving her out of the way and landing on top of her.

Stiles covered Harper's head with his arms as the noise of electricity crackling and Erica screaming filled their ears. The lights flickered on and off quickly, and Harper's heart was pounding in her chest uncontrollably. Scott was pushed and landed straight in front of them, but he wasn't affected, quickly scrambling up and taking a protective stance in front of Harper, Stiles, and Allison.

Allison clinged onto Scott's arm as the lights flickered, illuminating Jackson who was stood by the chalkboard in front of him. His head head tilted back and and his pale, sweaty skin was slowly becoming covered by the green scales of the Kanima right in front of them. His head lolled to the side and Harper noticed how his eyes were completely green.

His arm suddenly flung out, and with a piece of chalk he began to write on the board, moving almost robotically.

'STAY OUT OF MY WAY OR I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU'.

Harper gaped at the words just as the Jackson took off, jumping up into the glass ceiling. The glass shattered and fell to the ground around him, but at least it meant that Jackson/the Kanima was finally gone.

The four teenagers climbed up and began to move towards the board. Harper looked around worriedly, only to spot Erica on the ground having a seizure. How did she not feel it like she had felt it the time before?

"Erica!" Harper gasped, dropping onto her knees and hovering over her body.

Stiles and Scott were suddenly right behind her, Stiles' arm on Harper back while Harper attempted to control her friend. She had been with Erica while she had a seizure once before, so she faintly had an idea of what to do.

Erica wouldn't stop shaking and whimpering, moving uncontrollably in Harper's arms. Stiles helped, kneeling down so Erica could rest her head on his legs, since they didn't have a pillow or anything to put under her head.

"He's alive." Allison called from the other side of the book shelf.

She had been checking up on Matt who had been paralysed and knocked out by the Kanima.

"We need to get her to a hospital." Stiles glanced over at Scott and Harper worriedly.

"D-Derek." Erica managed to let out. "Only to Derek."

Scott turned to face Allison. "When we get her to the hospital-"

"To Derek." Erica chocked, cutting the werewolf off. "To Derek."

Allison nodded at them, "Go."

Scott rushed over to Allison and Harper moved the blonde hair out of Erica's face, attempting to give her at least a small bit of comfort. They waited for Scott to come back from his heart to heart with his secret girlfriend before Stiles moved Erica into Scott's arms.

Scott picked her up quickly and began to leave, Harper and Stiles opening doors for him on the way out.

...

"Pull her up." Derek yelled.

Harper quickly moved behind Erica and used all of her strength to hold her up, looking at Derek worriedly. "Is she going to die?" She panicked.

She couldn't let anyone else she cared about die.

"She might, I-" Derek didn't finish, rolling up the sleeve of Erica's jacket and clasping her arm with both of his hands. "Which is why this is gonna hurt."

There was a defeaning cracking noice followed by Erica's scream, causing Harper to shriek. She felt the pain in her own arm and accidentally dropped Erica, her head falling onto Harper's knees.

"You broke her arm!" Stiles gaped at Derek, before looking at Harper. "Holy- Harper!"

Harper was unable to shut off of her empathic powers, and she could feel every single thing that Erica was feeling. The pain was so, so unbareable. She would take breaking her finger over having her arm snapped any day of the week. Stiles moved closer to Harper, although he didn't know what to do to help.

"It'll trigger the healing process." Derek yelled above the noise of the two screaming girls. "I still gotta get the venom out. This is where it's really gonna hurt."

"That wasn't it-" Harper was cut off by her own screaming, and she could barely hear Erica's above the violent ringing in her ears.

Harper fell limp against Stiles who was behind her, her entire body arching upwards as blood began to pour from her arm. Sweat beads formed from her forehead as she let out a sob, her screams dying down until she was just whimpering, before eventually the pain was too much and she passed out, just like Erica.

...

"You scared the hell out of me, Harper Verum."

Harper's eyes had flickered open only a few seconds ago, and were currently adjusting to the figure on the end of the bed that she was laying in. She quickly realised it was Stiles, and also that she was in his bed.

"Sorry." The brunette yawned, rubbing her eyes. "I thought I had the whole connecting thing under control, but turns out I still don't."

Stiles scoffed and nodded. "Yeah, clearly not."

Harper pouted, crawling over to him until she was sitting directly in front of him. She grabbed his hands and sent him a smile, holding them up to her lips and kissing them. His hand slowly stretched out and moved to her face, cupping it and tucking some hair behind her ear at the same time.

"You're so lucky I'm in love with you." He chuckled dryly, leaning down and pressing a kiss on her forehead. "I hate it when you connect to people."

"It's kind of my supernatural ability, Sti." Harper let go of his hands to lean into him. "It's not fair- Scott gets supernatural hearing and strength, Jackson gets a venom that paraylses people, and I feel too much."

Stiles stroked her hand comfortingly. "Yeah, but you have the purest ability, Harps. You can help people emotionally- and sometimes that's more important than physically."

There was a comfortable silence for a few seconds before Harper's gaze flickered up to his hazel eyes. Like always, he was already staring straight at her.

"How do you feel right now, Sti?" Harper questioned, her tone light as she grabbed his hands, absent mindely playing with his fingers.

Stiles smiled slightly at her. "A mixture, I guess."

Harper stared at him, focusing until she could feel everything that Stiles was currently feeling: Love, content, nervousness. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"How are you feeling content and nervous at the same time?" She giggled slightly.

"Content because I'm here with you and we're both okay. Nervous because you're holding my hand, and you're very close to me." Stiles admitted, no shame to his voice.

Harper blushed, a giddy feeling occurring inside her. Her stomach swirled with butterlies and suddenly she was nervous too, her entire face hot as she avoided eye contact with him, unable to keep the smile off of her face.

Stiles chuckled, his finger going underneath her chin and pulling it up gently, forcing their eyes to lock. He didn't say anything but leaned in, capturing her lips in his. She hummed, rising from her butt onto her knees so she was higher than him, her arms wrapping around him tight.

His hands trailed from her face to her hips, resting there. Harper could feel the love, passion, and lust coming from him, and it was only doubling her own emotions, making her crave the Stilinski boy even more.

There was suddenly a knock on the door, causing the two of them to pull away quickly. The door opened and Noah poked his head inside, smiling at the two of them, sending a nod in Harper's direction. Harper beamed back at him.

"I'm going out." He announced. "I have some stuff to do at the station. And for the love of God, Stiles. I do not want to end up on sixteen and pregnant, so keep your hormonal hands to yoursleves, thank you."

Both teenagers blushed as Sheriff Stilinski left, leaving the door open this time. They didn't move until they heard the front door slam shut.

"Where were we?" Stiles smirked, connecting their lips once more.


	41. Chapter 41

"Oh, what the hell is this?" Sheriff Stilinski grimaced, pulling the burger away from his face, his mouth full. He had obviously realised that it wasn't the normal, meaty, greasy mess like he was used to.

"Veggie burger." Stiles replied, moving forward and grabbing his drink off of the sheriff's desk that they were eating at.

"Stiles, I asked for a hamburger." Noah's nose was turned up in disgust as he carried on chewing through the mixed up vegetables and other ingrediants inside.

The Stilinksi boy lifted up his salad. "Well, veggie is healthier. We're being healthy." He peeled open the lid and shot his dad a sarcastic smile.

The Sheriff pulled open another box only to reveal carrot and cellery sticks. "Oh hell, why are you trying to ruin my life?" He grumbled, glancing over at his son's girlfriend. "Hey, Harper has a hamburger. Why can't I?"

Harper beamed at Noah. "Because, I suffered being vegetarian for thirteen whole years of my life. No way am I going back to those things." She pointed at the veggie burger that Noah had placed down in front of him.

Harper's parents had both been vegeterians, so of course she was brought up as one too. She ate just like them, but after they died, she had her first bite of a hamburger from McDonalds- and no way was she ever touching another veggie burger again.

Stiles nodded along to Harper's claims. "Yeah, and I'm not trying to ruin your life. Okay, I'm trying to extend your life, okay? Could you just eat it please? And tell me what you found."

"No, I'm not sharing confidential police work with two teenagers." The Sheriff looked at his son as if he was crazy.

Harper's gaze flickered from her hamburger up to the board behind Noah, and a small smirk tugged at the corner of her lips. "Is that it behind you?" She jerked her head in the direction of the board with pictures and arrows.

Stiles perked up, trying to look behind his dad's head. Noah shook his head, waving a hand at Stiles, "don't look at that. Avert your eyes."

"Okay." Stiles replied, but didn't look away, even going as far as to push himself up in his seat using the arm rests either side of him.

"Hey!"

"Okay-"

"He-" Noah tried to block his view.

"Just- it's just- I see arrows pointing at pictures." Stiles muttered, sitting back down properly in his seat.

"Okay, okay, stop." Noah waved his hands again, cutting Stiles off. "Fine. I found something. The mechanic and the couple who were murdered. They all had something in common."

"All three?"

"Yeah. You know what I always say. One's an incident. Two's a coincidence."

"Three's a pattern." Stiles and Harper both mumbled at the same time, the light feeling leaving the air as they stared at the Sheriff in front of them more seriously.

"The mechanic, the husband, the wife- all the same age. All twenty four."

Harper frowned, her eyebrows furrowing together. "What about Isaac's dad? He definitely wasn't twenty four."

Noah nodded. "That's right. Which makes me think either 'A,' Lahey's murder wasn't connected or 'B,' the ages were a coincidence, until I found this, which would be 'C'." He handed Stiles some paper, showing a military armed forces personnel file. "Did you know Isaac Lahey had an older brother named Camden?"

Harper slightly nodded, remembering that Isaac had told her about how his mum and brother were both dead that night in the graveyard before she had been bitten inside the school.

"'Died in combat'?" Stiles read the bold, red letters printed across the page.

"But if he were alive today, take one guess as to how old he'd be."

Harper hummed, "I'm gonna go with twenty four."

...

The three had moved to stand in front of the investigation board, the bright light of the Sheriff's lamp lighting up the entire thing. Harper looked between all of the pictures of the deceased people, her fist curling when she saw Mr Lahey's picture.

"Now what if same age means same class- I mean, did you think of that?" Stiles wondered out loud.

Noah nodded, "yeah, yeah." He didn't sound too convincing. "Well I would've. I mean, I- look, I just got Lahey's files two hours ago."

"Two hours?" Stiles repeated in disbelief, whirling around to face his dad. "Dad, people could be dying."

"Yeah, I'm aware of that. Thank you." Noah glared back at his son.

Harper sighed at their fighting, deciding to change the subject quickly. "Okay, what about checking old Beacon Hills High yearbooks? Surely something will come up."

Noah and Stiles' eyes both widened and the Sheriff quickly got hold of all of the files and yearbooks that he could. He slammed them on the desk and they searched through them, Stiles being the one to find it.

"Okay, this is it. Class of 2006." He pulled out a folder and opened it, his eyebrows furrowing together. "They all went to Beacon Hills."

Sheriff Stilinski pointed his finger at a file he had in his own hands. "Including Isaac's brother."

"All right, but so what if they all knew each other, you know? I mean, two of them were married, so maybe they all just hung out." Stiles pointed out, looking at his dad.

Noah shook his head as he flipped through the pages. "They could've had the same classes together, they could've-" He paused, staring down at the paper in front of him.

Harper moved to Noah's side as Stiles frowned at him. "What?" He asked.

The young girl's eyebrows raised when she saw Mr Harris' face printed on the paper, and for some reason she wasn't surprised.

"Harris was their teacher?" Harper frowned. "All of them?"

Noah nodded, "all four." He confirmed. "And I don't know how Mr Lahey fits in, but this- kids, this is definitely a pattern. All right, Harper, pass me the 2006 yearbook. These names, we need faces."

Harper quickly obeyed, her dainty hands shuffling through all of the books on the desk until she found the yearbook that Noah had previously requested.

"Which ones?" She asked, flipping it open as Noah began to call someone on the telephone beside him.

"Everyone in that chemistry class." Sheriff Stilinski replied as Stiles hovered behind her. "If the killer's not done killing..."

"One of them's next."

...

Harper sighed as she finished applying her mascara, knowing that it was now time for her to go downstairs. Of course Harper didn't have a problem with her grandmother, instead it was the other way around. It was as if Rose was now the teenager, ignoring and being angry with Harper.

The young brunette completely understood, she just wished it was different. Her grandmother only had a few more months left on this earth, and she didn't want them to spend them angry at each other.

Harper grabbed her school bag and jogged down the stairs, into the kitchen. She shot her grandmother a smile and Rose replied with a weak one, turning back to the dishes that she was cleaning in the sink.

"Grandma... How many times do I have to say it? I'm sorry." Harper sighed, opening a cupboard and pulling out a breakfast bar. "I'll do anything to make you forgive me."

Rose just sighed loudly. "Harper... I don't feel like doing this today. Please. We can talk after school- if you decide to show up, that is."

Harper's face fell. "Grandma-"

Rose shook her head. "Actually, no. You know what? You will be home by three thirty today, because you are grounded. You do not get to decide what time you get home. You got that?" She spoke, her voice attempting to be stern, but Harper could see right through it.

Biting her lip, the brunette nodded. She unwrapped her breakfast bar just as the sound of a horn outside came to her attention. Harper knew from the strange tune that it was her boyfriend and couldn't help but smile a tiny bit.

"See you tonight. Three thirty. Love you." Harper nodded at her grandma, grabbing her bag from where she had placed it on a stool, slinging it over her shoulder.

"I love you too."

Harper smiled as she opened the front door, the chilly air immediately hitting her face and biting at her cheeks. She closed the door quietly behind her and hopped down the stairs coming from her porch, moving down the smooth pavement until she reached the familiar blue jeep.

She pulled it open, her eyebrows raising when she saw Scott in her place. "Excuse me, Mr McCall. What happened to that stupid bike of yours?" She raised her dark eyebrows.

"I have news," was all he said, a smirk on his face.

Harper huffed at the werewolf before climbing up, acting as if he wasn't there as she moved her body over his, leaning towards Stiles. She pecked his lips and sent him a smug smile.

"Morning, Sti." She chirped.

Scott groaned. "Do you really have to kiss each other while you're practically sitting on my lap?"

Harper rolled her eyes as she moved, climbing straight over Scott and flopping onto the back seats. Stiles just chuckled, shaking his head as he started the car, pulling it out of the driveway.

"So," Harper began. "What is this news you speak of?"

Scott sighed dramatically. "I couldn't get us tickets to the underground show thing. Did you know that they're seventy five dollars each? Anyway, that's not the point."

"So, what is the point then?" Stiles grumbled, frustrated. He didn't take his eyes off of the road as they made their way to school.

"The point is, Jackson turned up and just cut the line- I think he was in Kanima mode or whatever."

Harper's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "I'm sorry, I don't think I understand. You didn't get tickets because Jackson cut the line?"

Scott let out a groan of frustration. "No! I mean, kind of. He was acting really weird. He freaked out the girl selling the tickets so much that she just left. He just stared at her the whole time. He didn't say a word. It was intense."

Harper leaned her head against the seats behind her. "Great. So now you two don't have tickets. Just great." She muttered sarcastically. "I don't want to go to that thing alone. Especially not with Matt. You two need to figure something out now. And fast."

The jeep pulled up in front of the school and they all clambered out. "There's got to be some other way to get tickets, right?" Scott questioned hopefully, looking over at the two of them who had gotten out of the car on the other side.

"It's a secret show. There's only one way, and it's a secret." Stiles explained, annoyed.

He also didn't want Harper to go alone to the underground rave with Matt. Not only was the Kanima going to probably be there, but Harper had agreed to go on a date with some guy that wasn't her boyfriend. Even if she said it wasn't a date, Stiles knew that Matt thought otherwise.

"Hey."

Speak of the devil.

The three turned around to face Matt, and Stiles quickly wrapped an arm around Harper's waist, pulling her closer to him. He glared at Matt a little, but the blue eyed boy just scoffed.

"Do any of you guys know why no one's getting suspended after what happened the other day at school?" Matt questioned, looking between the three of them curiously.

They were all lucky that the Argent's worked for the school now. With Gerard as the principal and Victoria Argent at the front desk, they had been people to explain what happened to the library, thankfully.

"Just forget about it." Stiles spoke rather harshly. "Nobody got hurt."

Matt turned to look at him. "I had a concussion."

"Well, nobody got seriously hurt." Stiles glared at him and he felt Harper shift underneath him, knowing instantly that she wanted him to shut up.

It was Matt's turn to glare. "I was in the ER for six hours."

"Hey, do you wanna know the truth, Matt?" Stiles only grew more annoyed, letting go of Harper and edging a little closer to the other teenage boy. "Your little bump on the head is about this high on our list of problems right now."

Stiles moved his hand to the ground, his voice raising the more he spoke. Harper and Scott both shared glances, with the two of them definitely being the peace makers in the friendship, they couldn't help but feel a little bad for Matt.

Matt had no clue about the supernatural, so Stiles was looking like the biggest jerk ever right now. Actually, almost everybody thought Stiles was a bit of a jerk from his short temper and sarcastic remarks, but anybody that truly knew him knew that he was the softest person ever on the inside.

Harper grabbed Stiles by the arm and pulled him up from where he was still kneeling down, sending him a glare. He didn't miss the amused look in his girlfriend's eyes. 

"Are you okay?" Scott asked Matt.

"I'm fine now." Matt's eyes awkwardly shifted over to Stiles, as if waiting for another sarcastic comment from him. "So you didn't get any tickets last night either."

Scott shook his head as Stiles looked away, annoyed. "Are they still selling?" The werewolf asked him.

"Uh, no, but I managed to find two online." He looked over at Harper and smiled, causing Stiles to glare harder. "I can pick you up an hour before on Friday."

"Great." Harper forced a smile.

Matt didn't seem to notice it was fake as he walked away, smirking at Stiles. Stiles glared after him.

"I don't like him. Actually, you know what? I hate him." The Stilinski boy muttered before turning to Scott. "Are you sure about this?"

"Last time, whoever's controlling Jackson had to kill somebody because he didn't finish the job, so what do you think he's going to do this time?" Scott told them both.

"Be there to make sure it happens." Harper realised.

Scott nodded and Stiles huffed as the three of them began to make their way to class.

...

"Ketamine?" Scott read from the bottle that Deaton was holding up, a small frown on his face as his eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

"It's the same stuff we use on the dogs, just a higher dosage." He placed the clear bottle and the needle down on the metal table in front of the three teenagers. "If you can get close enough to Jackson, it should slow him down enough to buy you some time."

Harper reached forward and grabbed the needle, inspecting it with a disgusted look on her face. Deaton moved behind him and picked up another glass jar, this time filled with some sort of dark powder. He held it up to them.

"This is some of what you'll use to create the barrier. This part is for you, Stiles. Only you." Deaton instructed firmly, looking the Stilinski boy straight in the eyes as he placed down the glass jar.

"Uh, that sounds like a lot of pressure." Stiles muttered, leaning forward and picking up the jar to look at the label. "Can we maybe find a slightly less pressure filled task for me?"

Scott shot him a look, causing Stiles to shoot one back, his filled with defensiveness.

"It's from the mountain ash tree, which is believed by many cultures to protect against the supernatural." Deaton explained, ignoring Stiles' previous request. "This office is lined with ashwood, making it difficult for someone like Scott to cause me any trouble."

Harper frowned at this, placing the needle back down on the table at the same time as Stiles put his jar back down.

"Okay, so how come I can pass through it easily if I'm supernatural, too?" Harper questioned. "Is it different with Empaths?"

Deaton nodded. "That's right, Harper. Seeing as you are the first Empath I ever met, I am not too sure on the in's and out's of it, but I think you, like the Banshee, are immune to supernatural poisons, such as mountain ash and wolfsbane."

"Cool." Harper wasn't sure on how to respond.

Stiles changed the subject. "So then what? I just spread this around the whole building and then either Jackson or whoever's controlling him can't cross it?"

"They'll be trapped." Deaton confirmed with a small nod of the head.

Scott glanced at Stiles. "Doesn't sound too hard." He tried to encourage him.

"Not all there is." Deaton interrupted them. "Think of it like gunpowder. It's just powder until a spark ignites it. You need to be that spark, Stiles."

"If you mean light myself on fire, I don't think I'm up for that." Stiles told him, causing Harper to snort.

Harper had only met Deaton on a few occasions, but she knew that most of what he said was metaphorical- just like Ms Morrell. The brunette didn't know if she liked that about them both or not. At times it was frustrating and boring, but sometimes it was inspirational and motivating.

She wondered if they could be related. After all, they spoke the same and they kind of looked familiar. She wouldn't be surprised.

"Let me try a different analogy." Deaton began. "I used to golf. I learnt that the best golfers never swing before first imagining where they want the ball to go. They see it in their mind and their mind takes over. It can be pretty extraordinary what the force of your own will can accomplish."

"Force of will." Stiles repeated, breathing heavily out of his nose as he nodded. He didn't sound convinced at all.

"If this is going to work, Stiles, you have to believe it." Deaton made hand gestures, his eyes not leaving Stiles as he smiled.

There was a small silence as Harper and Scott turned to look at the boy with the buzz cut. Stiles inhaled deeply, letting out a mumble as he copied the hand actions that Deaton had done just before. He gave a small smile, ending the conversation there.


	42. Chapter 42

Friday night eventually rolled around and Harper had managed to convince her grandma to let her go out. Of course she didn't tell Rose that she was going to a secret undergound rave— no, instead she told her that there was a study group going on at the library and Harris had recommended that she should go.

The Verum girl had even gone as far as to write a fake letter, just so Rose couldn't say no. Rose had gone to bed early that night so Harper immediately began to get ready. She dressed up a little bit more than usual, since she needed to blend in with everybody else at the rave.

Harper wore a short, black skirt and a white crop top. She put her oversized denim jacket on top and a pair of her favourite Doc Martens. She left her honey brown hair half up half down and did some dark lipstick and added a burgandy eyeshadow to her crease.

She couldn't be bothered to put her full effort into her effort, especially since Matt was taking her and not Stiles. She waited on the doorstep so that Matt wouldn't wake up her grandma when he knocked on the door.

A black car suddenly pulled up in front of her driveway, causing her to let out a sigh. She stood up and forced a smile at Matt, waving as she climbed into the passenger seat of his car.

"Hey, Matt." She greeted, attempting to make a light of the situation by being nice to him.

"Hey." Matt smiled, his eyes flickering from her face to her body. "You look great."

Harper smiled a little, "thank you."

Harper hated the way his blue eyes gazed for way too long around her breast area, especially when she leaned over to get her seatbelt and buckle herself in. She inwardly shuddered and sent him an extra fake smile, causing him to look away.

The blue eyed boy cleared his throat before he began to drive down the road. "So," he began. "Your boyfriend, Stiles, right?"

"Right..." Harper nodded, unsure of where he was going.

"You two aren't serious, right? I mean, just a question. Y'know, just wanted to know." He spoke awkwardly, his fingers tightening around the steering wheel as if they were slipping.

Harper nodded, frowning. "Yeah, we're serious." She explained. "Very serious."

God, she wanted to get out of this car. Every time his eyes landed on her it felt like a hundred dirty hands were touching her, totally invading her space and making her feel physically sick. She couldn't for the life of her understand why she felt that way.

Maybe it was the guilt of knowing that Stiles wasn't the one taking her out, when she knew that he wanted to. But she knew somehow it was deeper than that. Something was off about Matt, other than his creepy stares and obnoxious smirks.

"Oh," Matt sounded dissapointed. "I mean, wasn't he mad that you agreed to go on a date with another guy?" His eyebrows furrowed together.

Harper was caught off gaurd by his question. She definitely remembered telling him that they were going just as friends, but either he was completely ignorant or he didn't speak English.

The brunette chuckled nervously. "It's not really a date if we're just friends." She forced a smile at him. "Because that's what we are. Just friends."

Matt cleared his throat, swallowing thickly. "Right," he nodded, as if trying to convince himself of the truth.

His blue eyes stared at the road in front of them as he carried on driving, and Harper could have sworn that she saw his left eye twitch a little. Shuddering a bit, Harper leaned her head against the window and began to listen to the music that was playing out of his speakers.

She realised that the music coming out of the old speakers was not the radio, and in fact a CD. Harper leaned forward a little when a second The Neighbourhood song began to play.

"You like The Neighbourhood?" She attempted to make small talk, unable to keep the awkward silence any longer. "They're my favourite band."

Matt sent her a small smile. "I know," he muttered, his eyes widening upon realising what he had just announced. "I mean, I think I heard you talking about them once. I totally didn't buy their CD because I know you like them. Definitely not. That would be extremely weird."

Harper's nose crinkled up. "Yeah. That would be kind of weird..." She trailed off.

He was so obvious it hurt.

Matt finally pulled up in the car park of where the underground was being held, much to Harper's relief. Once she climbed out she felt like kissing the ground, just thankful that she was no longer stuck in that car with him.

She shut the door and turned around, her eyes quickly making eye contact with somebody across the car park standing in front of a baby blue jeep. Stiles. His hazel eyes bored into hers as he stopped half way through getting something out the back of his car.

His eyes immediately softened upon seeing his girlfriend, and it was like time had frozen for the both of them. Harper raised her hand to wave when Matt appeared suddenly in front of her, a smirk on his face. She missed the way Stiles glared at the boy's back.

Matt held his arm out. "You ready, milady?" He spoke in a fake English accent, causing Harper to fake a chuckle.

The amount of times that somebody had tried to impersonate her accent since she had moved to America began to get tiring a long time ago.

"That was terrible." She reluctantly linked her arm with his. "You definitely should work on your accent skills."

He took her words as flirting.

Matt smirked a little more. "Yeah, well maybe hanging around you more often will help me with my English accent skills." He tried to flirt, causing Harper to inwardly cringe.

"Maybe." She sighed, looking over her shoulder one last time at her boyfriend before disappearing inside.

...

Harper groaned as a body slammed into her hands, sending her straight into Matt's chest. He chuckled as he caught her, though Harper barely heard him over the loud music and obnoxious cheering. His hands slid up from her arms to her shoulders as he pulled her away from him.

She forced a smile as she bobbed a little to the thumping bass of the electronic music, trying hard not to bump into anybody else again. It was hard when there were about three hundred people surrounding her, all drunkenly jumping up and down and cheering.

Turns out, raves certainly are not Harper's thing.

Matt frowned at her. "You're not enjoying this, are you?" He questioned sadly upon seeing the distant look on her face.

Harper shrugged. "Sorry. I probably should have told you that I don't like being in crowds." She chuckled nervously as somebody else bumped into her, causing her to fall into Matt yet again.

She stumbled backwards away from him, his hands still on her arms. He looked down at her, his lips twitching up into a smirk.

"You really need to stop falling for me." He flirted badly, before he leaned down.

His lips were on hers suddenly, causing her to freeze up. It only lasted for about two seconds before Harper pulled away, glaring madly at the boy in front of her. She lifted her hands up and shoved him harshly, his body crashing into the people behind him.

"I have a boyfriend, jerk." She yelled above the music.

Suddenly a hand was on her shoulder. "Yeah, she has a boyfriend, asshole."

Harper looked up and smiled fondly at Stiles, who wouldn't stop glaring at Matt. Matt held his hands up in defence as Stiles grabbed Harper's hand, pulling her away from the young photographer.

His face was red and his jaw was clenched, the hand that Harper wasn't holding was balled up into a tightly clenched fist. Harper squeezed his hand comfortingly, ignoring an aching feeling in her chest. It felt tight, like it was on fire.

"Did you do it?" Harper yelled, distracting Stiles from his anger and her feelings, "Did you complete the circle of mountain ash?"

Stiles nodded, trying to focus on their supernatural problem instead of the fact that he had just witnessed another guy kiss his girlfriend. He was still red with anger though. In fact, if he was a cartoon character, he would most definitely have steam coming from his ears.

Meanwhile, Harper's nose felt like she had just sniffed one of those bath bombs at Lush way too hard, and her head felt kind of dizzy. Was she connecting to someone on drugs? Was this what it felt like?

"Yeah." He called back. "Isaac injected Jackson with the ketamine. They're in the room in the back. C'mon."

He lead her to a door and as soon as he opened it, two people got ready to fling themselves at him. Stiles quickly put his hands up in defence, his eyes bulging out of their sockets.

"No, no, no, no!" He yelled at Isaac and Erica. "It's just us, just me and Harper. Don't freak."

Harper closed the door behind them, shutting out almost all of the music, the aching feeling that had spread to her lungs dying down. She raised an eyebrow at Jackson who was slumped unconscious in a stray plastic chair in the middle of the small room.

"Is he okay?" She went forward to poke him, but Stiles grabbed her wrist, gently pulling her back.

"Well... let's find out." Isaac swiped his werewolf claws out, lifting them to slice Jackson's chest when Jackson's hand suddenly flung out, grabbing a hold of Isaac's arm.

Isaac whimpered as Jackson twisted it, a crunching noise filling the room, Harper's entire face scrunching up at the displeasure-able sound. Isaac continued to groan and pant until Jackson finally released him. Harper realised that he had been unconscious the entire time, his arm just falling back down limply onto his lap.

"Okay, no one does anything like that again, okay?" Stiles pointed at the three of them.

Isaac continued to fuss over his arm. "Ugh, I thought the ketamine was supposed to put him out." He hissed from the pain, sitting down in a chair in the corner, hunched over.

Harper sighed. "I think this is the best that we're going to get." She muttered in annoyance, gesturing towards Jackson. "I think all we can do is hope that whoever is controlling him decided to show up tonight."

The brunette moved to help Isaac when Jackson's eyes suddenly snapped open.

"I'm here." His voice came out robotic, and it was obvious that he was being controlled. "I'm right here with you."

All four teenager's heads whirled around to look at him, their eyes wide as they budged closer together, confused and scared.

An overwhelming feeling suddenly hit Harper, and it was like she couldn't breathe. A dark mist suddenly rolled into the room from underneath the door, causing her to look at it. Harper silently slipped out of the room, following it with wide eyes, as if she was in some sort of trance.

It lead her down a couple of meandering hallways, until she finally reached a door. She snapped out of her daze, blinking quickly and shaking her head. The black mist suddenly disappeared, but she knew it had lead her to the door in front of her.

Her breathing had become even more scarce as her hand touched the door knob. She twisted it, immediately gasping at the sight in front of her. Scott was sprawled out on a wooden bench almost unconscious as Victoria Argent crouched above him, an evil smirk on her face.

Harper could smell wolfsbane in the air, her gaze flickering over to a machine that Harper had seen American teenagers put marijuana in in the movies. But, instead of the drug, Victoria had put wolfsbane inside, and was quickly poisoning the werewolf.

Victoria's eyes snapped up to face Harper, a smirk crossing her face. "Ah." She sighed as the teenage girl dropped to the ground, wheezing. "Two birds, one stone."

She quickly moved forward and grabbed Harper's arms, dragging her into the room and leaving her weak body beside Scott's. She locked the door behind her and crouched down beside Harper.

"What are you?" She glared at the teenage girl, causing Harper to wince.

"British." She muttered sarcastically, gasping for air straight afterwards.

Victoria chuckled dryly. "Do you really think that you are in a position to be making jokes, Harper? Me either. Now, you're going to tell me what you are."

Harper's eyes flickered shut momentarily before she answered. "Empath." Her voice was barely above a murmur.

She would have shot another sarcastic comment, telling her she was a Sagittarius instead, but she was too tired.

Victoria's lips tugged up into a smirk. "The last Empath ever. How lucky am I? This is a privilege, honestly. Do you know how much my hunting status will improve when they find out I wiped out the last of the Empaths? That I deleted an entire species of supernatural creatures?"

Harper didn't reply, feeling her body grow weaker as Scott's did.

"Stop." Scott chocked, his eyes flashing yellow as his hands curled around the sides of the bench he was on. His claws extended as he scratched the sides, grunting in pain.

"Alpha, Beta, but what are you, Scott?" Victoria mocked as she walked around the room, her heels clicking on the pavement below her. "Omega. Don't you know the lone wolf never survives without a pack? I've heard the cry of an omega. It's a miserable sound. The howl of a lone wolf."

"I'm not." Scott muttered softly, his claws scraping next to Harper's head, the noise echoing in her ears along with everything else.

"What?" Confusion and urgency laced Victoria's tone. "What is it?"

"I'm not... alone." He muttered, his head lifting up until his back arched and he let out a loud roar.

The noise stung Harper's ears and she whimpered, using everything she had inside her to lift her hands up and cover her ears. Her body curled up in pain, sweat dripping from her forehead. His roar turned into coughing and whimpering and he fell to the ground, choking.

"Harper..." Scott whispered, wheezing. "I'm sorry..."

The dying brunette had no chance to reply as the door slammed open. She could faintly make out Derek and Victoria as they began to fight, Derek weaker than usual due to the heavy amount of wolfsbane in the air. Victoria attacked him with a knife, the two of them wrestling for control.

A ringing noise went through Harper's ears and suddenly she couldn't hear anything anymore. Arms were suddenly wrapped around her and pulling her away, her lungs immediately taking in the fresh air. She glanced across at Scott, seeing him unconscious in Derek's arms.

Stiles had his arms around Harper as she coughed, her forehead leaning against his chest and her eyes squeezed shut. He stroked her hair as she moved her head to face Scott.

"Is he okay?" She asked Derek tiredly. "Is he breathing?"

Derek nodded. "He'll be fine. Stiles, take Harper home." He jerked his head towards Stiles' jeep. "I'm taking Scott to Deaton."

As Derek began to pull the unconscious werewolf away, Stiles turned to Harper and released the heavy sigh that he had been holding in. It truly terrified him every time his girlfriend was hurt- which had been a lot lately, considering her brand new supernatural powers.

"You really need to stop almost dying." Stiles muttered as he helped her to her feet. "It's honestly really not good for my mental health."

Harper winced, "sorry."

The boy with the buzz cut just shook his head and began to guide her towards his jeep slowly. He didn't want to rush her.

"Scott's gonna be okay, right?" Harper turned to him once she had buckled into her seat inside the jeep.

Stiles started the engine before looking at her. "Of course." Stiles nodded firmly, "Scott always pulls through."

The couple remained in silence as Stiles drove the blue jeep out of the car park. The radio wasn't even on, so the only noise was the sound of the jeep on the ground beneath it.

"I saw the way you pushed Matt." Stiles glanced at her quickly. "Not gonna lie, it was kinda hot."

Harper chuckled, blushing a little. "Really?" She raised a dark brow.

Stiles nodded, "yeah. It's probably a good thing you pushed him too, because if I had of gotten by hands on that piece of-"

Harper grabbed his hand when she saw how it was clenching the steering wheel with such force his knuckles were turning white. His jaw was clenched and his hazel eyes were squinted as he glared at the road in front of him.

"Woah, woah, woah. Hold your horses, Stilinski. No need to go hurting anyone, I had everything under control." Harper reminded him calmly.

Stiles raised his eyebrows. "What if someone kissed me?" He quizzed.

Harper's fists clenched at the thought and she immediately turned to face him.

"Did someone kiss you? Who? God, I'll kill them." Her eyebrows were furrowed together as she thought deeply. "Was it-"

"It was a question, Harps." Stiles cut her off, laughing.

Seeing her get jealous and protective made him feel better. He knew Harper would never betray him, but his insecurities always got the best of him. He was constantly worried that she would find someone better than him. Someone more attractive, someone good at lacrosse, someone smarter, kinder, funnier.

Harper blushed deeply. "Great." She muttered sarcastically. "Now I look like an idiot. But for the record, if a girl ever kissed you, I'd deal with it in a calm and rational manner."

Stiles raised a brow. "Really? Cause the way you acted before says otherwise, and-"

"Okay, okay." Harper admitted, "I would probably get very angry and upset, and depending on who it was that kissed you, I might have to get Lydia on them."

Stiles faked horror, "no, please! Anything but Lydia!"

Harper laughed, "hey, she can be really scary sometimes."

Stiles shuddered visibly. "Oh, trust me, I know. When she found out we were dating she cornered me in the halls and threatened to chop off my manly area if I ever broke your heart. I think I peed a little."

Harper laughed, "gross, Sti." She paused. "She did that?"

The Stilinski boy nodded. "Mm-mhm. And till this day she still glares at me when I see her at school."

Harper smiled softly, "bless her."

"Bless her?" Stiles scoffed. "She's Satan in heels."

Harper rolled her eyes, smiling. "She's a good friend."

They didn't say anything for a while, the two of them enjoying the peaceful silence that had fallen between them. Luckily, silence was never awkward between the pair.


	43. Chapter 43

Harper's fist went up to knock the front door of the Argent household, but before she could, it had swung open and hands had grabbed her, immediately tugging her inside. Harper gasped, trying to wriggle out of the person's grip.

"Hey, hey- it's me." Allison hissed, calming her down. "I didn't want my parents or my grandfather to open the door for you."

The shorter girl nodded, swallowing thickly. "Thanks." She muttered, holding her hand on her heart as she calmed down. "Sorry for freaking out."

"That's totally fine."

To be honest, Harper had the best reason to freak out. After all, only last night the owner of the house had tried to kill her and her best friend. She didn't want to tell Allison, since Scott had told Harper not to. He said he would tell her, but they weren't really talking right now so it would be in a while.

"So, what did you have to tell me?" Harper questioned as Allison lead Harper up the familiar stairs and to her bedroom.

Harper immediately sat down on the bed, glancing around the lilac room at all of Allison's beautiful, and expensive, things.

Allison turned to look at Harper worriedly. "So... Since Scott completely ditched me last night, I got a ride home with Matt."

The Empath raised an eyebrow, willing her to go on.

"And when he got out, he left his camera in the car. I flicked through it, looking at all of the lacrosse pictures and stuff, and then there was a picture of you on the bleachers." Allison's throat began to feel tighter with every word that passed her plump lips.

Harper chuckled, "makes sense," she crinkled her nose, "I do go to every single lacrosse game and practice, you know. Coach doesn't call me their biggest supporter for nothing."

Allison shook her head quickly, "that's what I thought at first." She explained, "but he took like seven pictures of you just studying on the bleachers. And then there were pictures of you and Stiles in the hallways, by his jeep. There were pictures of you in Chemistry."

Harper's eyes widened in horror as Allison continued to list the places that Matt had taken pictures of her. Her hands shook slightly in her lap as she leaned forwards, her heart pounding quicker with every word Allison spoke.

"That's not the worst part."

Harper gulped, "how the bloody hell is that not the worst part?" She ran a hand through her smooth hair, her eyebrows furrowing together as she panicked.

"He took pictures of you through your window." The words tasted like blood in Allison's mouth as she watched her friend's face fall further. "And there were a few of you and Stiles in a very suggestive position."

Harper's mind whirled back to the night of their heated make out session, where the brunette had been straddling Stiles until her grandmother walked inside. She licked her dry lips, her eyes shining with regret and fear.

"What does he do with them? Did you ask him? Oh God." Harper rushed, overwhelmed. "He has to delete them right now."

Allison sighed, placing her hands on top of Harper's. "Harps, calm down, okay? I don't know what we're going to do, but I promise he won't leak those photos anywhere. He's not stupid, he knows what to show and what not to show."

Harper bit her lip, "I still don't like the idea of him having photos of me."

Allison shook her head, "me either," she sighed, "but we'll get through this. You and me. And we can tell Stiles and Scott, too. Maybe we could sneak his camera and destroy the card the photos are on."

"He probably has them all backed up." Harper muttered glumly, crossing her legs on the bed and pulling the skater skirt she was wearing so that she wasn't exposing her pants.

"Clear your schedules." A perky voice suddenly interrupted them. "This could take a while."

Harper glanced up to see Lydia standing in the room, holding up two very full Macy's bags in her hands. The strawberry blonde wore a grin on her face, and Harper was jealous that she was so blissfully unaware of the supernatural and Matt the freaking stalker.

Lydia placed the bags down on the bed beside Harper, shooting her best friend a grin and kissing her on the cheek. Harper simply smiled back, her mood lifting slightly from a few seconds ago.

"How many outfits do you plan on wearing tonight?" Allison chuckled as the green eyed girl began to shuffle through the bags.

"It's my birthday party," Lydia scoffed, pulling out a grey striped dress. "I'm thinking host dress, evening dress, then, mm, after hours casual."

Harper couldn't help herself and opened one of the bags, looking through it and pulling out all of the dresses that Lydia had brought for herself. Allison smiled nervously from beside the strawberry blonde.

"I noticed that you didn't send out any invites." She rubbed her hands together, looking towards Lydia for an answer.

Lydia didn't look up as she pulled out another dress. "It's the biggest party of the year, Allison. Everyone knows," she huffed as she placed another dress down on the bed, not making eye contact with either of the girls.

"I was wondering if maybe this year things, you know, might be different." Allison shrugged, watching Lydia as if she was about to burst any second.

Lydia paused what she was doing, but didn't look up. "Why would anything be different?"

Harper didn't know whether she sounded nervous or not. Her full lips had pursed together as she stared down at the outfits in front of her, waiting for the hunter's reply.

The shortest girl spoke for Allison, "I think that Allison just means that things have been different lately. Things and people."

"Like Jackson," Allison finished, searching for any signs of an emotion change on Lydia's face.

The strawberry blonde slowly looked up, but she didn't frown nor smile. "Why do you care about Jackson?" Her gaze was so intimidating that Allison felt her cheeks burn slightly.

Allison just chuckled, shaking her head. "Do you know if he's coming tonight?"

"Everyone's coming," Lydia's expression didn't change as she reached into a bag, holding a peach dress up. "This one's American Rag. Mm, I love it. For me, not for you."

Lydia grinned as she reached down, picking up a floral patterned dress. "This one's Material Girl. It's for you." She held it out to Allison.

Then she picked out another dress, holding it up for Harper. "For you," she tossed it at her, "I saw it and immediately thought of you."

Harper pulled the dress at arms length so that she could examine it properly. It truly was beautiful. It was a burgundy halter dress that came to about mid thigh. The dress reminded Harper a lot of her winter formal dress, except less far less detail.

Lydia obviously wanted to be the centre of attention at her own birthday party, so of course she was going to wear the better dress. Harper didn't mind though, Lydia deserved some attention after they had been somewhat ignoring her for the past few weeks.

There was suddenly a knock on the door, and Harper's head snapped up only to see Victoria Argent stood there. She had a forced smile on her face, sweat beading on her forehead as she looked at the girls. She avoided eye contact with Harper and Harper pursed her lips, staring intently at the woman in front of them.

"Mrs Argent," Lydia chirped, "what do you think of Harper's dress?"

The woman was forced to look over at Harper who's grip tightened on the dress in her hands. Victoria plastered a faker smile on her face.

"Oh, it's lovely." Her voice was quieter than usual. "Allison, uh, can I grab you for a moment to talk? Just the two of us."

Harper's nose crinkled up when she suddenly felt the anxiety, sadness, and desperation seep into her. She played with her own hands as she watched Mrs Argent stare at her daughter hopefully. Something was going on, but of course Allison and Lydia couldn't feel that.

"Um, can we do it later?" Allison mumbled, gesturing to the mess of dresses on her bed.

"Actually, uh, to be honest, sooner would be- would be better." She started rubbing her arm and then her shoulder and Harper frowned, wondering what the hell was going on with her.

"Party's at ten." Lydia turned from her outfits to say.

"Um, will you be around before then?" Victoria looked at her daughter expectantly.

"I think so."

"You think so?" Victoria repeated, swallowing thickly.

"I don't know." Allison suddenly frowned, dismissing her mother quickly.

Victoria just pursed her lips and nodded before turning to leave. Allison and Lydia carried on their conversation while Harper just stared after her, not being able to shake off the feeling that something was wrong with Allison's mum.

...

Harper rung the doorbell to Lydia's large house, only for the door to be opened seconds later. Lydia stood there, a smile immediately reaching her face when she saw her best friend stood in the doorway with a 'MAC' bag in her hands. Stiles stood beside her, smiling politely at Lydia who just sent him a nod.

"Happy birthday!" Harper cheered, and she would have given Lydia a hug, if it wasn't for the massive tray of drinks that she was holding.

"Thanks, Harps." Lydia leaned down and gave her a friendly peck on the cheek anyway,"is that for me?" She gestured to the MAC bag.

"Duh," Harper chuckled, "you're the birthday girl."

Lydia just smirked, "you can put it down on the presents table. It's by the kitchen."

Harper nodded, "gotcha."

She grabbed Stiles' hand gently and began to lead him towards where Lydia had instructed them to go. Along the way Scott joined them, dressed up in a mint shirt with a smart black denim jacket over it. Harper had worn the dress Lydia had brought her, and Stiles had stuck to a plaid shirt over a dark green one with some jeans.

"Have you seen Jackson anywhere?" Stiles questioned as they stopped so Harper could put her gift on the assigned table.

It wasn't that full yet since there weren't many people at the party yet. She placed the black bag beside a bunch of colourfully wrapped presents.

"No. Seen Allison?" Scott asked.

Harper shook her head, "no," she murmured, "but we should probably tell her what Stiles found."

Stiles had been obsessing over his dad's case all day, and had actually managed to find something inside the yearbook. Apparently, all of the people who were killed were on the 2006 swim team, and Isaac's dad, Mr Lahey, had been the coach for it.

"I'm still kind of not sure what we found." Scott furrowed his eyebrows together as they began to walk again.

"We figured out that it has something to do with water. You know, the fact that all the victims were on the swim team, the way the Kanima reacted around the pool." Stiles explained to Scott.

"So, whoever's controlling the Kanima really hates the swim team?" Scott summarised, looking towards the Stilinski boy for confirmation.

"Hated the swim team. Specifically, the 2006 swim team." Stiles corrected him, "so it could be another teacher. Maybe like a student back then. I mean, who are we missing? What haven't we thought of?"

They had walked outside. The pillars around them had been wrapped with fairy lights, accompanying the ivy that had already grown there. The entire garden looked like something out of some sort of teen movie- there was a massive pool there and everything.

Allison suddenly came over, sending Scott an awkward nod which he returned. "Uh, Jackson's not here."

"Yeah, no one's here." Stiles frowned.

Harper bit her lip as she looked around and realised they were the only ones out there. "It's just early," she defended her best friend, "people will start turning up soon."

Stiles shot her a look, "or maybe nobody's coming because Lydia's turned into the town wack job."

The shortest girl glared at him, her gaze softening when she saw Lydia stood alone on the other side of the garden. She was stood there with her drinks, looking around expectantly.

"We have to do something, guys." Her voice came out softly when she turned to look back at her friends.

Allison nodded in agreement, "yeah, we have kind of been ignoring her for the past two weeks."

Scott shook his head, "we don't owe her a party."

Harper blinked, "really, Scott?"

"What about the chance to get back to normal?" Allison offered.

"Normal?" The werewolf repeated, confused.

Harper scoffed, "Scott, if it wasn't for us, Lydia would be perfectly fine. I'm the reason Lydia ended up on the lacrosse field that night and ended up getting bitten by Peter, and why she ran naked through the woods all weekend and became Beacon High's biggest joke."

Stiles placed a comforting hand on the small of her back. "How many times do I have to tell you, babe?" He sighed, "it's not your fault. Peter took control of you and forced you to take her onto that field. You would never have done it if you were in control."

Harper bit her lip at his words, but it didn't stop the hot tears from pooling in her eyes. She quickly blinked them away, forcing a smile at her boyfriend. Scott noticed her fake act and sighed. He hated seeing Harper upset, it was like when his mum cried— one of the worst feelings in the world.

"I guess I could use my co-captain status to get the lacrosse team here." The tan boy shrugged in an attempt to soothe Harper a little.

Stiles nodded, "yeah, I also know some people who can get this thing going." He dug his phone out of his pocket, "like really going."

"Who?" The hunter frowned.

"I met them the other night. Let's just say they know how to party."

...

About half an hour later, the party was finally in full swing. Lydia's favourite music blasted from the speakers as people danced and spoke and drank. Harper noticed some drag queens by one of the pillars and scoffed, realising that that was who Stiles had been talking about. Just as she was about to go and talk to a girl in her German class, a hand grabbed her shoulder.

"Harper," Lydia grinned, "you haven't tried the punch yet."

The brunette looked at the cups Lydia was carrying on her tray. "Are they alcoholic?" She questioned.

Lydia giggled, rolling her eyes. "There's a little bit in there. C'mon, Harps. It's my birthday, everybody's favourite day of the year. Lighten up,"

Harper let the smile cross her face as she accepted the glass from Lydia's hands. "I guess one drink wouldn't hurt," she giggled, taking a sip of the drink. "Mm, this is actually really good. What's in it?"

The strawberry blonde just smirked. "It's a secret recipe."


	44. Chapter 44

Harper finished her fourth glass of punch, throwing the empty cup into the bin beside her as she leaned against the wall, her brown eyes flicking around as she tried to find Stiles. She spotted him across the garden with a bunch of lacrosse players, on his third glass of punch.

She was about to walk over when Matt suddenly appeared in front of her. Harper frowned, and she would have taken a step back if the wall hadn't been in the way.

"Harper," he smiled, "I need to talk to you about something privately."

The brunette pursed her lips together. "I don't think that's a very good idea, do you?" She sneered, only feeling anger for the boy in front of her. "Allison told me about the pictures in your camera."

Matt frowned, "Okay, okay. So I know I took some pictures of you that I know I probably should have told you about. But is it really that bad that- that I think you're beautiful... And I think you should be the subject of a perfect photograph?"

Harper scoffed, "there's a difference from finding something beautiful and being a crazy stalker."

Matt's blue eyes shifted, growing darker. He didn't say anything for a moment, and Harper could feel her heartbeat becoming out of control as he stared at her.

"Stalking- so I'm," he paused to chuckle, "I'm a stalker now. That's- is that it? You- you think my bedroom is wallpapered with your photos. You think I'm the kind of guy that gonna say something like, "well, if I can't have her, no one can'."

Harper didn't say anything, she just glared.

"Well, you know what?" He spat. "Get over yourself, because there's another pretty girl walking through the room every five minutes."

Harper's brown eyes narrowed and her fists clenched. "Matt, if you don't get out of my way right now, then I will kill you." She threatened.

Matt seemed taken aback by her words as she shoved past him. He grabbed her shoulder, but she whirled around and reached up, grabbing a handful of his hair and tugging him down level with her as hard as she possibly could.

"You better take a step back buddy before I personally go to Sheriff Stilinski and tell him what you've been doing." She hissed.

He whimpered, his hands reaching to hers so she would released him. She just tugged him down further, causing him to collapse on the ground. She flicked some hair that had came out on her hand at him, grimacing before walking away.

Harper stopped when she reached a pillar. She leaned against it and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She didn't know where the hell that had come from, and she didn't know whether she liked it or not. Maybe it was because of the full moon that her emotions were on edge, or perhaps because she was slightly drunk.

"Harper."

The brunette froze completely at the old voice. Her eyes widened and she paled, her heart beating uncontrollably inside her chest. Harper felt like she was going to throw up any second as she slowly turned around, her breath catching in her throat when she saw who was stood there.

Her parents.

Harper's mum and dad stood there, smiling sadly at the teenage girl. Her mum had a bullet wound in her chest, blood staining all of her clothes. She looked just like Harper had remembered her. Her dark hair was pinned up like always so that you couldn't see the parts that were greying, and her brown eyes were sparkling as she smiled at her daughter.

Her dad stood there too, but he wasn't smiling like her mother. His light brown hair was greying just like she remembered it had, and his blue eyes were dull. A hole was directly in the centre of his forehead, blood covering his light brown sweater.

Monica Verum glared at Harper's dad. "Gabriel, you need to go back."

Harper couldn't stop staring between the two of them, her entire body shaking and her eyes shining with tears. She didn't know that a voice could sound so familiar and yet so unfamiliar at the same time. Her bottom lip trembled and she wanted to ask whether this was real or not, but she found herself unable to speak.

Gabriel pursed his thin lips, nodding at his daughter. It reminded Harper of all of the times when she had told him something she had done at school that day, and when he had simply nodded in acknowledgement, not particularly caring.

"You need to find me," Harper's dad told her, his articulate English accent ringing in her ears, "they caught up to me."

Who had caught up to him? What was he talking about?

His tone was urgent, but it was clear that he was trying to keep calm. Harper had no idea what he was talking about as she took a step back, a few tears spilling. Her breathing was heavy as she stared in between her two deceased parents, wondering why the hell she was seeing them now.

"W-why- is this- is this real?" Harper finally managed to stutter, her voice cracking from all of the emotion that it was carrying. "Are you really here?"

Her mum shook her head, "no, darling. This is all in your head. But what your father is saying-"

Harper couldn't hear the rest, as her mother's voice began to be drowned out by a static sound, and then suddenly the sound of a drill. Screams of agony filled Harper's ears, causing her to cry out and hold her ears. She knew that they were her mother's screams, as she was calling out Gabriel's name.

"Gabriel, please, no!"

Harper froze at the words, chocking back a sob as her hands reached forward to grab her mother. Just as she did, her hands went straight through her, and suddenly they were both gone.

She snapped out of her state quickly, exhaling shakily when she realised that she had been hallucinating the entire thing. It had felt so real. Harper reached up and quickly wiped her tears away with a trembling hand.

Scott suddenly appeared in front of her, letting out a sigh of relief. "Harper!" He cried. "Stiles and I have been looking everywhere for you and Lydia. Do you know where she is? We think she's putting something in the drinks to make everyone go crazy."

Harper looked around, seeing that everybody was in fact acting strange. Kids were jumping into the pool and making out with Lydia's plants.

She shook her head, "I haven't seen her since she gave me some of the punch." She told him, looking around for the strawberry blonde.

Scott's eyebrows knitted together as he pulled her arm back, worried. "Have you hallucinated yet? Are you feeling okay?" He stressed.

The brunette nodded, "yeah, I did," she muttered quietly, "I saw them. My parents, I mean."

The McCall boy's face fell and his eyes softened. He reached down and sympathetically placed a hand on her shoulder. 

"Are you okay?" He asked quietly, "and I mean really. I don't want some 'I'm fine' answer, because we both know that anybody that says that doesn't really mean it. I'm your best friend, so I want an honest answer, okay?"

Harper exhaled a shaky breath. "I'm a little shaken," she admitted,"but let's focus on that later. We need to find Lydia."

Scott nodded quickly, sensing she didn't want to talk about whatever she had just seen to do with her parents. "Okay, follow me."

They quickly met up with Stiles who as acting my hyperactive than usual, his hazel eyes lighting up when he saw Harper walking beside Scott. He rushed over, grabbing her gently by the shoulders and forcing her to look him in the eyes.

"Harper Jean Verum," he scolded, "you had me worried sick."

Harper rolled her eyes, "I was literally stood behind the pillar the entire time."

Scott frowned, "we checked all of the pillars."

Stiles nodded, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah..."

Harper sighed loudly, "my mum always said that men were bad at looking for things." She muttered, "now, did you find her?" She asked her boyfriend.

The Stilinski boy shook his head no. Harper groaned, about to suggest they actually try calling her when a familiar voice screamed from across the other side of the pool, causing all three of them to jump.

"I can't swim!" Matt yelled, "no, no, no, no, stop, guys! I can't swim! I can't swim!"

He continued to panic as he was thrown into the water by a group of lacrosse players. Matt tried to come back up but he kept panicking, scream and thrashing about. Water was going in every direction and Harper's eyes widened as she began to put two and two together.

Everybody stared as Jackson kneeled down, grabbing Matt and pulling him out of the water. Matt breathed heavily as he stood up, completely drenched in water and panting as he looked around at all of the people watching him.

"What are you looking at?" He growled before starting to walk away.

He paused right in front of the terrific trio, his jaw clenched. He shoved Harper into Stiles and went right through them, stomping as he left the party. Stiles held Harper's arm gently as she turned around, giving both boys knowing looks.

Sirens began to wail in the distance and some kid yelled, "cops are here! Party's over!"

Everybody began to panic as they ran away, all pushing and shoving each other to get back to their cars or run home. Harper looked in the direction that Matt had gone, nodding at Scott. It was obvious that he was thinking the same thing that she was.

The three went after him, stopping when they saw him stood on the other side of the road to the house. He was glaring at the three of them, trembling with anger as he breathed heavily through his nose. Harper gulped, her eyes widening when she looked down and saw the Kanima on all four by his feet.

The Kanima's tail was wrapped around Matt as he hissed at the three, obviously protecting the blue eyed boy. Harper's suspicions were quickly confirmed.

Matt was the Kanima's master.


	45. Chapter 45

"So this kid's a real killer?"

As soon as Matt had disappeared along with the Kanima, the three teenagers had quickly drove to the Stilinski household where they knew Stiles' dad would be. They told him that Matt had been the one behind all of the murders, of course leaving the part out where he used a Kanima to do so.

Currently they were stood over a yearbook, the lamp on Stiles' desk shining down on it. A red circle was drawn around Matt's picture.

"Yeah." Stiles confirmed his dad's question.

Noah shook his head, "no."

Harper and Stiles looked at him in surprise. "Yes!" Stiles shot back, glaring slightly from his desk chair.

"No." Sheriff Stilinski replied sternly, folding his arms across his chest.

Stiles quickly bounded up from the chair. "Dad, come on. Everybody knows that the police look for ways to connect victims in a murder, okay? So all you have to do is, like, look through their transcripts and figure out which class they all had in common."

Scott nodded encouragingly from behind the mole speckled boy.

"Yeah, except for the fact that the rave promotor Kara wasn't in Harris's class." Sheriff Stilinski pointed out.

"Right, sorry." Stiles groaned, "I guess they dropped the charges against him?"

Noah shook his head, holding a finger up to Stiles. "No, you know what. They're not dropping the charges. But that doesn't prove anything- Scott, Harper. Do you two believe this?"

Stiles rolled his eyes.

"It's really hard to explain how we know this, but you just gotta trust us." Scott explained to him, "we know it's Matt."

Harper nodded along side him when Noah looked at her expectantly. "Oh yeah it's definitely him."

"Yeah, he took Harris's car, okay?" Stiles continued urgently. "Look, he knew that if a cop found tire tracks at one of the murders, and that if enough of the victim's were in Harris's class, that they'd arrest him."

"All right, fine." Noah reluctantly gave in. "I'll allow the remote possiblity, but give me a motive. I mean, why would this kid want most of the 2006 swim team and its coach dead?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Stiles cried, his hands making big movements. "Our swim team sucks! We haven't won in, like, six years. Okay, we don't have a motive yet. I mean, come on, does Harris?"

Noah nodded, "what do you want me to do?"

Stiles let out a breath of relief and Harper smiled slightly as Scott leaned forwards. "We need to look at the evidence." He told him.

"Yeah, that would be in the station, where I no longer work." Noah replied, shooting Stiles an annoyed look since he had been the one to get him fired.

Harper hadn't been there for the news, but apparently it didn't look great to have the Sheriff's son stealing police transportation vans and kidnapping lawyer's sons. 

"Trust me, they'll let you in." Stiles pleaded with him.

"Trust you?" Noah pointed a finger at him, narrowing his blue eyes.

Stiles pursed his lips together nervously. "Trust- trust Harper and Scott?" He jerked his thumb towards the two mentioned teenagers.

Noah nodded. "Harper and Scott I trust."

...

The former Sheriff of Beacon Hills held the door open for Harper, Stiles, and Scott as they all wandered inside. The lady sat behind the front desk raised her eyebrows at the older man, looking at him expectantly.

"It's two in the morning," she pointed out in a monotone voice.

Noah leaned on the desk, "believe me," his voice was low, "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't extremely important."

Stiles turned to face his two best friends. "We look at the hospital stuff first, okay?" He mumured, causing Scott to furrow his eyebrows in confusion.

"Why?" The werewolf questioned.

Harper answered for Stiles. "All the murders were committed by Jackson." She shuddred, "except for one. The pregnant lady, Jessica."

Stiles nodded, "yeah, that's right." He mumbled, "since Matt had to kill her himself, someone from the hospital could have seen him."

Scott's eyes lit up in realisation, and he was glad that they had somewhere to start when looking through the evidence that they needed. The lady behind the desk jerked her head behind her and Noah pursed his lips in a thank you.

"Boys, Harper." Noah called, leading the way to his office.

...

Harper's eyes strained at the TV sat in front of them on Noah's old, wooden desk as they watched through the CCTV footage from Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital on the day of the death of Jessica. The three teenagers were watching on the edges of their seats, trying to grasp some sort of proof that Matt had been there, while Stiles' dad was starting to lose hope in what the trio had told him earlier.

"I don't know, guys." He sighed tiredly, "I mean look at this. There was a six-car pileup that night, the hospital was jammed."

"All right, just keep going." Stiles pushed, "look, he had to have passed one of the cameras on the floor to get to Jessica, okay? He's gotta be on the footage somewhere."

The Empath sighed deeply, moving her head to click her neck that had stiffened from leaning fowards for so long. All she was seeing was a nurse wheeling a hospital patient away in a wheelchair, an old man walking down the hall with a lady behind him, a lady sat down reading something in the waiting area, and a guy in a leather jacket walking-

"Wait!" Harper hissed, pointing a finger at the screen, "that's him. That's Matt."

"Scroll back," Scott ordered urgently, clearly having seen the teenage boy too, "did you see that?"

Noah did as Scott had instructed, scrolling the footage back. You couldn't see Matt's face, but it was obvious to anybody that knew him that it was him. He was wearing the leather jacket he always wore and his curly hair which hadn't changed since elementary school.

"That's Matt." Stiles confirmed, glaring at the screen.

Noah squinted, "all I see is the back of someone's head."

"Matt's head, yeah." Stiles gave a short nod, becoming impatient with his father. "I sit behind him in Histroy. He's got a very distinct cranium, it's weird."

"Are you crazy?" Noah glared at him.

"All right, fine, dad, look at his jacket, huh?" Stiles gestured towards the screen, "how many people do you know who wear black leather jackets?"

"Millions, literally." Noah dead panned, and Harper crinkled her nose up, knowing that he had a good point.

Scott interrupted them before their bickering got too out of hand. "Okay, can we scroll forward? There's gotta be a shot of him coming at one of the cameras." He pressed.

Harper nodded along to Scott's words and Noah listened to them, scrolling forwards. The CCTV footage showed Matt walking around a corner, his head down.

"Stop!" Harper shrieked, making Stiles jump from beside her, "there. Right there."

"You mean there's the back of his head again." Noah corrected, clearly stressed.

Stiles leaned closer to his dad, pointing at Matt. "Okay, but look. He's talking to those people.

Scott leaned closer, his eyes widening a fraction when he saw that the people Matt were talking to were his mum and Harper's grandma. Melissa was talking to him while Rose stood beside her, nodding her head.

"He's talking to my mum and Rose." Scott gaped.

Harper's mouth fell open slightly before her painted lips pursed together and she exhaled through her nose. She felt furious that Matt had been anywhere near her grandma.

Stiles frowned, "why's your grandma at the hospital, Harps?"

Harper cleared her throat, and she noticed Noah shoot her a sympathetic look. Did he somehow know? Harper didn't know who Rose had told about her cancer, but it made sense that she would tell Noah and Melissa, since they were like second parents to the teenage girl.

"Oh, um, I don't know. I'll have to ask her," Harper lied, and she felt extremely bad for doing so- especially to Stiles. 

Noah quickly made Scott call Melissa up on the phone on his desk, and thankfully she picked up almost straight away. Scott quickly explained some of the situation to his mother, asking her if she had seen Matt.

"Scott, do you know how many people I deal with in a day?" She questioned, bored.

"This one's sixteen. He's got dark hair, looks like a normal teenager." Scott explained, causing Harper to roll her eyes at his lack of description.

"Yeah, he looks evil." Stiles snapped.

"Scott, I already talked to the police about this." Melissa sighed on the other end of the phone.

Harper decided to speak up, "Melissa, you and my grandma were talking to him in the middle of one of the halls. Does that ring any bells?"

There was a heavy silence before she replied, "do you have any pictures?"

"Yep." Scott answered shortly before snapping a picture on his phone of Matt from the yearbook, sending it straight to her. "Do you recognise him? Do you remember him?"

"Yeah, I did." Melissa responded, "I mean, I remember I was talking to Rose and then I stopped him because he was tracking mud down the hall. Scott what's going on?"

The four of them shared looks as Scott replied, "it's- it's nothing, mum. I'll explain later. I gotta go."

The werewolf hung up as Noah reached across the desk, pulling out a file filled with text and pictures of patterns. "All right, we've got the shoe prints along side the tire tracks at the trailer site." He explained.

"And if they match that puts Matt at the scene of three murders." Stiles realised, "the trailer, the hospital, and the rave."

"Actually four," Noah corrected him, "a credit card receipt for an oil change was signed by Matt at the garage when the mechanic was killed." He stood up.

Harper's dark brows furrowed together, "when?"

"A couple of hours before you two got there." He looked between Harper and Stiles.

There was a silence before Stiles spoke up, "all right, dad. If one's an incident, two's a coincidence, and three's a pattern, what's four?"

"Four's enough for a warrant," Noah smirked at them, genuinely proud of the trio for managing to crack the case.

Stiles fist pumped the air excitedly while Harper squeezed his shoulder, sending a proud smile his way.

"Scott, call your mum back, see how quick she can get here. If I can get an official ID, I can get a search warrant. Harper, go to the front desk, tell them to let Scott's mum in when she gets here." Noah instructed them all.

Harper nodded and quickly left, not waiting around to hear what job he had assigned Stiles. She rushed towards the front desk and went to grin at the lady that was there before, only to find that she was gone. Her smile faltered as she slowly looked around, feeling herself get a little anxious.

"Hello?" She called nervously, "Ms Police Lady?"

The Empath didn't hear anything so she looked over the desk, her heart skipping a beat when she saw that the lady from before was lying on the ground dead. Her dark brown eyes were wide open yet lifeless, and her entire chest had been slashed up, blood everywhere. Harper knew what that meant.

The Kanima was here.

And wherever the Kanima was...

The sound of a gun clicking behind her confirmed her theory, causing her to gulp. She slowly turned around, her heart beating rapidly in her chest when she saw Matt stood there with a gun. His blue eyes were filled with tears as he sent her a smirk, cocking his head.

He pressed the barrel of the gun to here forehead and leaned in, his lips pressed against her ear. She felt the bile rising in her throat and her entire body start to shake. She couldn't help but wonder- was this how her parents felt right before they were shot dead?

"You're going to move your pretty little ass and lead me to where you friends are, got it sweetie?" His voice came out in a harsh whisper, his hot breath hitting her ear and causing her to cry out a little, clenching her teeth from the amount of fear that she was feeling.

Matt pressed the gun further into her forehead when she didn't reply, causing her to hesitantly nod. She slowly began to lead the way, Matt moving behind her and pressing the gun to her back.

The chatter inside the office was cut short when Noah looked up, his eyes widening at the sight in front of him. Confused by his dad's lack of speech, Stiles looked up too, only for his heart to drop at the sight.

Stiles had been threatened by psycho alpha's and paralysed by killer Kanimas, but by far the most terrifying moment of his life was seeing his girlfriend being held at gunpoint by a mentally unstable teenager. His heart was pounding out of his chest and his palms began to sweat as his mouth fell open, his hazel eyes wide.

Matt's hand was shaking as he glared at the other three people in the room, tears in his blue eyes that were threatening to spill over. Harper stood in front of him, her brown eyes meeting hers as she pursed her lips together, trying not to cry from the amount of fear that she was being forced to endure.

He pushed her using the gun, causing her to stumble straight into her boyfriend's arms. Stiles let out a small breath as he helped her up straight, his grip on her tight. He was afraid of letting her go, in case he never got to hold her again. Harper turned to stare at Matt cautiously.

Noah held his hands up in defence, "Matt. It's Matt, right?" He tried a calm approach, "Matt, whatever's going on, I guarantee there's a solution that doesn't involve a gun."

"You know," Matt scoffed, "it's funny you say that, because I don't think you're aware of just how right you are."

Harper pursed her lips together slightly, realising that he was talking about the Kanima. They knew it was him, but him basically admitting it to their faces sent chills down her spine. Stiles tightened his grip on her arm.

"I know you don't want to hurt people." Noah spoke softly.

"Actually, I wanna hurt a lot of people." Matt corrected him, "you four weren't on my list, but I could be persuaded." He paused, "and one way is to try dialling somebody on your cell phone, like McCall is doing."

Harper's head snapped in Scott's direction, seeing him whip his hands out from the pocket of his trousers quickly. Scott closed his eyes, wincing. She nervously looked back at Matt, wondering if he was going to hurt Scott for trying to call someone.

"That- that could definitely get someone hurt." Matt gestured to them all using the gun, "everyone."

"Now!" Matt suddenly yelled, the eerie calmness in his voice gone, and instead replaced with complete fury.

Sheriff Stilinski nodded at all of them and they all hesitantly began to pull their phones out of their pockets. Harper shakily put her phone down on the desk next to Scott's, before turning back to Matt who was still holding the gun up at them.

She gulped.

...

"Tighter," Matt instructed, a scoff of disbelief leaving his lips as he held the gun up to Stiles, forcing him to handcuff his own father to a pipe against a wall.

Stiles had tried to handcuff his dad as loosely as possible, but Matt wasn't having any of it. Harper stood behind the blue eyed boy with a worried look on her face as Matt shook with anger. 

"Do what he says, Stiles." Noah told his son calmly, causing Stiles to clench his jaw.

Reluctantly, the pale boy leaned down and tightened the handcuffs around his dad's wrist, making sure not to hurt him in the process. Matt gave a short nod before turning and grabbing a hold of Harper's arm tightly, tugging her into his side.

She let out a whimper as Scott and Stiles stared at the man angrily. Noah glanced between Harper and his son, praying in his head that Stiles wouldn't so something stupid to try and save her and get them both killed- because let's face it, Stiles would do anything for that girl, and sometimes it wasn't necessarily a good thing.

"Into the hallway," Matt ordered, his eyebrows furrowed together as he glared at them, "now."

Stiles pursed his lips together before turning and walking into the hallway beside Scott, Matt following close behind with a tight grip on Harper's arm and a gun pressed against her back. She shuddered as they walked past the door that lead them out to the offices, seeing three dead police officers sprawled out across the floor.

Their uniforms were stained with crimson blood, deep slashes wounding their bodies. Harper didn't understand why she hadn't heard any of them scream, or at least Scott, but she could feel their fear. It was possibly one of the worst feelings Harper had ever felt- a dead man's fear.

"Why would you do that?" Harper chocked, "why would you kill innocent people?"

Her parents never left her mind, and she thought about how this would have been them. They would have just been another dead body lying on the ground in their work place. She couldn't stop thinking about the gun pressed in her back, and how that could have been how her mum or dad had felt right before they were murdered.

"Oh, no, sweetheart." Matt chuckled, "that's what Jackson's for. I just think about killing them, and then he does it."

...

Matt lead them back to Stilinski's office and instructed that they get rid of any evidence proving that Matt was behind all of the murders. Just to be sure they did it, Matt was sat down on a chair with Harper next to him, his gun pointed at her back again.

Harper had never felt so useless in her entire life as she watched Scott shred up files and Stiles delete any online evidence on Noah's computer. She hated being the damsel in distress, the one being used in order to get the job done.

Nobody's favourite character was the one that needed help all of the time, and Harper seemed go always end up that way. She wanted to be like Scott and Stiles, doing the hard work with a brave face instead of being sat in the side lines because she's too fragile or because she's not one of the guys.

"Deleted," Stiles muttered, pressing a final button on the computer, "and we're done. All right, so, Matt, since all the people you brutally murdered deserved it because they killed you first- whatever that means- I think we're good here, right? You'll take the gun off of Harper's back, I'll get my dad and we'll go, you know? You continue on the whole vengeance thing. Enjoy the Kanima."

Car lights suddenly shone through the window of the office and the sound of a car parking filled their ears, causing Harper's heart to skip a beat. There's only one person Harper knew that was coming to the police station tonight, and that was Melissa McCall.

Matt smirked up at the tan boy, "looks like your mum's here, McCall."

"Matt, don't do this." Scott begged, "when she comes to the door I'll just tell her to leave. I'll tell her we didn't find anything. Please, Matt."

Harper's heart was plummeting with each word that left her best friend's lips. Both Stiles and Harper knew what it was like to lose their mother, and neither wanted Scott to find out what it felt like too.

The sound of the door opening was like a bucket of ice water to the face. Matt didn't flinch or even hesitate, showing that he had already made his decision.

"If you don't move," he scoffed, "now, I'm gonna kill Harper and Stiles first, and then your mum." 

Matt grabbed Harper's arm, forcing them all up. They stood in front of the door, Scott in arms reach of the handle. The blue eyed boy just smirked at all of the horrified and concerned looks on the teenagers faces.

"Open it," the Kanima's master instructed Scott.

The werewolf pleaded, "please, Matt."

"Open the door." Matt's face darkened and he pressed the gun further into Harper's back, causing her body to jerk forward a little as she yelped.

Scott gulped while Stiles glared at Matt, his eyes softening when he saw the look on Harper's face. It only just really occurred to him that this was the same thing that had happened to her parent's, and how she must be feeling. It only made him more angry, causing his fists and jaw to clench.

The tan boy reached forwards, his hand shaking as he forced himself to open the door. Harper let out a breath when she saw that it was Derek standing on the other side of the door and not Melissa. Scott sighed in relief too.

"Oh, thank God." Scott breathed.

Derek didn't move, much to Harper's confusion. Her eyebrows furrowed together as he continued to stare at a spot in front of him before his entire body just fell forwards, landing on the ground in front of their feet. Jackson came out from behind Derek, his face covered in the scales of the Kanima, his eyes reptilian.

So much for Derek saving them.

Matt crouched down, hovering over Derek with a sadistic smile on his face, causing Harper's stomach to lurch. This was the most terrified the brunette had ever been. She thought the anxiety of being in Finstock's Economics class was bad, but this takes the cake for sure.

"This is the one controlling him?" Derek questioned in a mocking tone, "this kid?"

Harper was sure he would have turned his head to glare if he could have.

"Well, Derek, not everyone's lucky enough to be a big, bad werewolf." Matt sneered, causing Stiles and Scott to glance at each other, "oh, yeah, that's right-" Matt stood up to look at the three teenagers, "I've learned a few things lately."

"Werewolves, hunters, Kanimas." The boy with the crazed eyes listed, "it's like a freaking Halloween party every full moon. Except for you two, Stiles and Harper. What do you turn into?"

"Abominable snowman." Stiles replied sarcastically, "but, uh, it's more of, like, a winter time thing, you know, seasonal."

Matt glanced over at Jackson and nodded his head. With one swipe of his arm, Jackson had sliced the back of Stiles' neck using his razor sharp claws, causing Stiles to grunt and Harper and Scott to shriek. Harper felt the bile rise in her throat as Scott quickly reached out to grab the falling boy, only for Jackson to stick his hand out and wag his finger, warning them.

"Bitch." Stiles managed shakily as he fell on top of Derek, causing the Alpha to grunt before clenching his jaw angrily.

Derek glared at the ceiling, "get him off of me."

Matt laughed wickedly, "oh, I don't know, Derek. I think you two make a pretty good pair." His eyes flickered up to a distressed Harper, causing her to shrink back, "it must suck though," he glanced back down at the two paralysed bodies, "to have all that power taken away from you with just a little cut to the back of the neck. I bet you're not used to feeling this helpless."

"Still got some teeth," Derek muttered, "why don't you get down here a little closer, huh? We'll see how helpless I am."

"Yeah, bitch." Stiles added weakly.

For the second time that night, car lights filled the room as a vehicle parked in the carpark outside the station. Harper's heart was pounding out of her chest as she heard the engine turn off. Scott clenched his uneven jaw from beside her.

"Is that her?" Matt teased.

Scott turned his head, probably listening out for the sound of his mother. By the way he had paled and turned back around defeated, Harper guessed that it was.

"Do what I tell you two and I won't hurt her." Matt told him, "I won't even let Jackson near her."

Stiles interjected, "Scott don't trust him!"

Matt suddenly reached down, forcefully grabbing Stiles by the back of his plaid shirt and rolling him onto his front. Stiles gasped just as Matt forced his foot onto his chest, cutting off his air supply quickly. Harper shrieked again, rushing to help her boyfriend when Scott pulled her back by her arm, sending her a warning look.

"This work better for you?" Matt snapped at Scott, pressing down harder on Stiles.

The hazel eyed boy's face had gone red, his veins prominent in his forehead and his eyes watering as he attempted to breath, but the crushing weight on his chest was keeping him from doing so.

Harper struggled to form words, panic overwhelming her brain. "Stop it!" She managed, her voice completely thick with anxiety. "Get off of him, Matt."

"Stop!" Scott yelled when Matt ignored her.

"Then do what I tell you to." Matt yelled back through gritted teeth.

Scott nodded, "okay." He replied more calmly, but Matt didn't let go.

"Hey!" Harper yelled, "did you hear him? He said okay! Now get off of him."

Matt reluctantly took his foot off of Stiles' chest, the Stilinski boy gasping and coughing for air. As soon as he accessed it he let out a sigh of relief, his face slowly turning back to its usual colour. Harper sent him an extremely concerned look, but before Stiles could tell her he was alright, Matt had began to talk again.

"You," the boy with the gun looked at Jackson, "take him in there," he glanced at Scott and Harper, "you two... with me."

Stiles tried to lift his head up as he became much more frantic, "hey, hey, no, no, no, no, no. Matt, please- Harper."

Matt pointed his gun directly at Stiles' head, causing him to freeze. "How tragic would it be if Harper lost her boyfriend the same way she lost her parents?" Matt smirked, his words coming out slowly for extra emphasis.

Harper swallowed thickly, her eyes burning with tears as she glared at the back of Matt's head. Scott moved closer to the smaller girl, his hand brushing against the back of hers in a comforting gesture. Stiles glared back at Matt, defeated.

"Now," Matt turned back around, looking at Scott, "let's go say hi to your mum."


	46. Chapter 46

Matt had guided the Scott and Harper out into the reception room, the gun he had stolen from the dead police officer pressed against Scott's back as a warning. The main entrance doors opened and Melissa McCall walked inside, turning her head left as she waited for another police officer to greet her.

The Kanima master pressed his gun futher into Scott's back, causing the werewolf to reluctantly call for his mother's attention. Melissa let out a breath, chuckling as she began to walk in, her eyes not letting landing on her son.

"You scared me," she scoffed, "where is every-"

Harper took note of the shift in Melissa's eyes when she looked up and saw the gun that was being pointed at Scott and Harper. The Hispanic woman froze, her lips parted in shock as her brown eyes clouded over with panic.

There was a heavy silence before Scott finally spoke.

"Mum, just do what he says. He promised he wouldn't hurt you." Scott explained to his mum as calmly as he could, but Harper knew him well enough to know that he was freaking out inside.

She felt like she was going to throw up any moment as Melissa didn't say anything, too shocked and scared to move or speak. Matt tutted from behind the two teenagers, causing them to shift their bodies to look at him.

"He's right." Matt lowered the gun towards Scott's stomach and pulled the trigger.

A loud bang echoed throughout the room, followed by the sound of Melissa screaming. Harper let out a cry as Scott fell down, holding where his shirt was soaked with crimson blood, letting out a loud grunt. Harper felt the blood trickling from her own torso before she felt it.

The pain was so agonising that it stopped her from making a sound. The Empath hesitantly looked down, feeling light headed when she saw the blood that stained her dress. Sweat formed on her forehead as she weakly leaned against the wall, slowly falling down on it beside Scott.

Scott quickly looked up from his wound, his eyebrows furrowing futher when he saw the state that Harper was in. He didn't have time to help her before another wave of pain hit him and he flung his head back, gritting his teeth. Of course Harper could feel everything that he was feeling, and she let out a cry of pain, tears streaming down her face.

"Scott! Stiles! Harper!" She faintly heard Noah Stilinski yell, but it was like a blur to her. "What happened?"

"But I didn't say I wouldn't hurt you." Matt smirked down at Scott before raising his eyebrow at Harper, "what are you, then? Some sort of Empath?"

Melissa mumbled something under her breath as she moved forwards to help the two teenagers, only for Matt to point the gun at Harper furiously.

"Back, back!" He yelled, shaking. "I will shoot her!"

"Mum, mum, stop, mum!" Scott cried at Melissa frantically, grunting when he moved too quickly. 

Harper felt it too, but bit down on her lip to stop herself from crying out again. Slowly, she could feel the tissue beginning to heal again, giving her some hope. Soon Scott would be back to normal again, which meant so would she.

Suddenly, there was another bang. Harper felt it straight away this time- right in her shoulder. But it wasn't like when Scott had been shot and she could feel his pain, this was different, because it was her own pain. Harper cried out in agony as Melissa screamed again, the bullet lodged in her shoulder causing her to feel physically sick.

Scott's eyes widened and he moved one hand from his healing stomach to Harper's shoulder, holding it there as Harper let out a dry sob, her entire body filling with panic and agony.

Her mother had been shot twice. Once in the shoulder, and the other one, the one that killed her, was the one in the stomach. Thinking about that made Harper feel worse, like her entire being was on fire and she was crumbling down. 

"I said back!" Matt screamed again at the poor woman who was trying to edge closer to the teenagers.

"Scott, Harper." Melissa let out a breath, glancing over at them with tears in her eyes.

"Mum, do it." Scott pleaded, "please, mum."

Matt didn't turn around from where he was pointing the gun at Melissa, but muttered over his shoulder, "get up, McCall. Harper, too."

"Matt?" Noah's voice echoed from somewhere in the station, "Matt, listen to me-"

The blue eyed boy began to freak out, shaking his head frantically and gritting his teeth as he screamed, "shut- shut- shut up! Everybody shut the hell up! Now, get up, or I shoot her next!"

Harper's dainty hands gripped onto the wooden bench beside her for support as she tried to hoist herself up, grunting in pain as she did so. She felt something inside her shift, and she felt like she was going to throw up. Scott was up beside her too, one of his hands on her back and the other holding his wound gently.

Harper physically couldn't pull herself up with a bullet wound in her shoulder and Scott's wound in her stomach, causing Matt to yank her up using the back of her dress. She cried out again as he pushed her forwards so she stumbled into Scott.

Scott slowly guided Harper to where Matt was pointing them to, Melissa following behind, terrified. Harper bit her lip as they passed Stiles and Derek on the floor, Stiles's eyes going frantic when he saw the blood over Harper's stomach and her bare shoulder.

"Hey, hey!" He yelled, "what the hell? Harper- Harps, are you okay?"

Harper was going to reply until she felt the gun pressed back against her head, warning her not to speak. Matt lead them into the same room that Sheriff Stilinski had been handcuffed in, and forced Melissa into the holding cell at the back of the room.

Harper had slid down onto the bench beside Noah, Scott leaning against the wall next to her with his hands on his stomach. The pain in her stomach was nothing compared to the pain in her shoulder, leading her to think that Scott had healed- he was just putting on a show for his mum and Sheriff Stilinski.

The brunette couldn't mask her pain as her shoulder throbbed, blood dripping down her pale arms. Noah shifted in his seat from beside her, using his hand that wasn't handcuffed to the pipe behind them to grab her hand. She squeezed it to relieve some of the pain and he didn't mind, he just watched her worriedly.

"Please," Melissa begged as Matt began to lock up her cell, "they need to see a doctor."

"You think so?" Matt muttered, his face inches away from hers.

Harper made a strangling noise at the back of her throat when the pain intensified, and a sudden burst of anger fled through Sheriff Stilinski. The older man shot up off of the bench, letting go of Harper's hand and pointing his finger at Matt angrily.

"Hey, hey, you listen to me!" Noah yelled furiously, only to be cut off my Scott.

"It's all right." Scott reasoned breathlessly, "I'm okay."

Melissa shook her head, "no, honey you're not okay."

Scott's eyes softened, "it doesn't hurt mum."

"Cause that's the adrenaline, okay?" Melissa explained, black tears from her mascara running down her tan cheeks, "please, let me- let me just take a look at them, okay? I mean, I can help stop the bleeding."

Matt turned to the two teenagers. "They have no idea, do they?" He chuckled, amused.

"Please." Ms McCall pleaded again, "let me just take a quick look-"

"Shut up!" Matt screamed, "lady, if you keep talking, I'm gonna put the next bullet through his head."

Melissa took a step back from the bars, licking her lips nervously as tears continued to fall. She nodded shakily, managing to calm down a little- at least on the outside.

"Back to the front, McCall." Matt grabbed Harper by her uninjured shoulder, steering her up from the bench, "after you."

Scott took one last look at his distressed mother before hesitantly walking back to the room that Jackson had taken Derek and Stiles from to. Matt shoved them both inside, Scott dropping the wounded act as he held onto Harper, who was actually hurt.

"The evidence is gone." Scott tried, "and Harper needs medical assistance right now. She's bleeding to death."

Stiles made an inhuman noise from on the floor as he worriedly looked over at his girlfriend, the urge to strangle Matt overwhelming and not a foreign feeling to him. He was absolutely furious to the point of angry tears burning in his hazel eyes, and if he could he probably would have attempted to finish Matt off.

Maybe it was a good thing he was paralysed, since now he couldn't do anything to get them all killed. But the aching feeling in his chest wasn't going away as he listened to Harper's shallow breathing and watched as Scott pressed his hand against her bleeding shoulder, doing his best to help her.

"Harper-"

Stiles was cut off when Matt pointed his gun at Stiles' head, causing him to stop. They all knew that Matt wasn't bluffing anymore. He had shot two people already, he knew he was going down after this, so why not finish the job?

"Harper," Matt mimicked him before chuckling dryly, "oh my God, Harper." He edged closer to the teenage girl, and before Scott could pull her back, caressed her cheek.

"Harper Jean Verum," he sighed, "every guy's dream girl. Do you remember when I said how I'm not the kind of guy to say, 'if I can't have her, then nobody can'? It's not totally true because, Harper, if I can't have you..." he paused before yelling, "no one can!"

Harper cried out and flinched away from him, Scott gently pulling her backwards a little. Matt took a heavy breaths through his nose before chuckling to himself and shaking his head. The entire room was tense as they waited for their next move, Stiles becoming even more worried for his girlfriend's safety.

"Do you think the evidence mattered that much, huh?" Matt scoffed, "no, no, I- I want the book."

Scott's dark brows furrowed together, "what book?"

"The beastiary!" Matt yelled, "not just a few pages, I want the entire thing."

Harper groaned, "we don't have it." She sucked in a breath when Scott adjusted slightly, his slender fingers brushing straight past her wound when he tried to press down further.

Her brain was going fuzzy, and it was as if she was seeing stars. Instead of Matt Daehler's angry face, she saw burning red flashes, and her knees almost buckled beneath her. She clung onto Scott with her clammy palms, trying not to think about fainting.

Scott nodded in confirmation, "it's Gerard's," he elaborated, "what do you want it for anyway?"

"I need answers."

"Answers to what?" Scott raised his voice, moving close to Matt as he grew angrier.

"To this."

Matt suddenly pulled up his shirt, revealing his pale stomach, however the entire left section of his body was covered in scales and grey skin that appeared to slowly be taking over. Everybody's eyes widened at the sight in front of them, and the scales physically moving was enough to make Harper feel sick again.

"Oh God-" Harper breathed, before suddenly she was introduced to a world of darkness- again.

...

"Harper, you stupid bitch." Lydia scolded as she entered the hospital room, her thin eyebrows furrowed together as she advanced towards the injured brunette, "I can't believe this. You were shot?"

"Right in the shoulder." Harper sighed, unable to even lighten the mood with a joke, "it hurts like a bitch. I'm on so much medication right now I don't know how I'm not going completely loopy."

The strawberry blonde's bottom lip wobbled and tears stung her green eyes as she sat down on the seat right next to Harper's bed. She grabbed Harper's hand and pressed her forehead against it, letting out a sob. Harper's heart broke at the sight, moving her good arm around to brush Lydia's hair out of the way.

"Lydia... I'm okay now. Nobody died." Harper pursed her lips together, "is Allison okay? I heard she turned up after I passed out. Stiles didn't tell me much about what happened and I didn't want to press him."

Lydia sniffled as she pulled her face away from her friend's hand, wiping away the black tears from her creamy toned cheeks. She hesitated before replying.

"Stiles didn't tell you, did he?" Lydia replied, a solemn tone to her voice.

Harper's eyes widened, "tell me what?" Her heart monitor began to quicken a little, "Allison's okay, right? Matt didn't shoot her too?"

"Oh my God, Harper, calm down." The strawberry blonde coaxed, gently pushing her back down onto the bed, "Allison is okay, it's just... When you said that nobody died, that wasn't exactly true."

Harper swallowed thickly, "I know the police officers were killed, Lydia." Tears brimmed in her eyes, "if we had heard them... we could have saved them, Lydia. We could have done something."

Lydia looked at her best friend sympathetically, brushing some of the brown hair out of her face. She grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently. The two remained in a silence for a few seconds, only the odd sniffle coming from one of them as they tried to stop themselves from crying.

"Matt died, too." Lydia whispered, "and the police went through his computer last night. Sheriff Stilinski said they found pictures of you on his laptop, Harper."

"He died?" Harper's eyes were wide, and she wasn't sure how to feel. "Did he kill himself? Did someone else kill him?"

Lydia nodded to the second question, "the police say he drowned."

Harper thought that it was ironic how Matt's biggest fear was water, and that was how he died. She almost felt sorry for him, until she remembered what he had done. He had put her through hours of her biggest fear- dying like her parents or losing her friends. He had shot her. He had killed people- innocent people who made stupid mistakes years ago.

"Are you okay?" Lydia questioned upon noticing the Empath's silence.

"I'm fine." Harper sighed, running a hand down her face, "or at least I will be."

Lydia gave a nod, pursing her lips together. "That's what I like to hear."


	47. Chapter 47

Harper was done with all of the emotions surrounding her everywhere she went. Scott had visited her twice, Allison hadn't bothered at all, Jackson was nowhere to be seen, and everybody else wouldn't leave her alone.

Stiles, Lydia, and Rose Verum had been smothering Harper so much that it had actually began to become suffocating. All Harper wanted to do was wallow in her own self pity, whereas Rose wanted her to help pack to take her mind off of things, Stiles wanted her to be with him at all times, and Lydia wanted her to get a grip and act normal.

Harper didn't know if she'd ever be normal again.

It felt like such an angsty teen thing to say, but who could blame her after being held at gunpoint for hours on end? After being shot just like her parents had before they died?

It was as if everybody was treading on egg shells around her, and Harper wanted to scream. So that's what she decided to do.

When Stiles had been forced home for dinner by his dad, Lydia was at her house and Rose was sorting through what she wanted to donate and what she wanted to give Harper, the brunette Empath had snuck out of the house.

She walked for about three miles, her shoulder aching in its sling. Harper ended up by an oak tree in the middle of the woods and leaned against the trunk, her head rolling back as tears spilled down her cheeks.

"I miss you so much," Harper whispered, her voice breaking, "I wish you were still here. I need a hug,"

Of course, there was no reply- just the sound of the wind going through the trees. Harper pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging them closer to her using her good arm.

She began to sob. Ugly, loud, belting sobs that would have scared anybody around her off. It was like as soon as she started she couldn't stop.

"I-it hurts," she cried out, "it hurts so much, mum. I wish you and dad were still here. I-I wish it didn't hurt so badly."

Her sobs racked her body, salty tears landing on the oversized hoodie that she had stolen from Stiles' wardrobe. It took about fifteen minutes for her to calm down into just sniffles and silent tears.

A twig snapped in the distance, causing her head to snap up. Her eyebrows furrowed together as she squinted, trying to see where it had come from.

Harper expected a hunter or a werewolf, so she was surprised when she saw a wild animal come out from behind a particularly large bush. Her breath hitched when she realised it was a coyote.

She shuffled back, her back pressed against the oak trunk behind her. The bark stuck into her back as it approached her, it's blue eyes lighting up like something from a movie.

"H-hi," Harper tried softly, not wanting to scare it or anger it, "if you could not kill me that would be great. I know I said some stuff about wanting to die earlier, but I would greatly appreciate it if-"

She was cut off by the coyote moving right in front of her before it's head leaned forwards and brushed up against her cheek. Harper's hands instinctively moved to touch it's head, although she was gentle.

She giggled slightly, hiccuping from all the crying she had been doing. The coyote's tongue came out and licked away some of the tears on Harper's face, causing the teenage girl to shriek slightly from both excitement and fear.

"Wow, I literally thought you were gonna take a chunk out of my face then, buddy." Harper giggled sweetly, stroking the coyote's face. "You're actually cuter up close, aren't you? Not as scary as I thought."

The coyote didn't reply, obviously, just nuzzling further up to her. It let out a breath from it's nostrils before slumping against her, it's body half leaned across her as it closed it's electric blue eyes.

Harper smiled slightly, forgetting about everything else going on her life as she looked down at the beautiful coyote. She continued to run her fingers through it's fur until eventually she fell asleep.

...

Someone shook Harper awake.

"What are you doing in the middle of the woods, Harper?" Sheriff Stilinski sighed, watching her worriedly, "you realise you can't just leave the house without telling anyone where you're going? Especially when you were shot only a week ago."

Harper winced at the reminder, pursing her lips. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "I just wanted some space and I fell asleep."

Noah nodded, helping her up from the dirty ground. "Right, well... just let someone know next time, yeah? You had Stiles and your grandmother worried sick."

"I'm sorry."

"Harper!" Stiles cried, rushing over to the brunette, "why were you in the woods? Are you okay?"

He quickly checked her over for any wounds, apart from her shoulder of course.

Noah glared at his son, "I told you if you were coming to help look, then you would be waiting in the car, Stiles."

"Okay, but you never gave me specific instructions about staying in the car after we found her." Stiles smirked slightly at his dad, causing Noah to sigh loudly and roll his eyes.

The sound of Sheriff Stilinski's phone ringing caused him to excuse himself, much to his own annoyance.

"You two- in the car. Now." Noah instructed with a point of the finger.

The couple went back to the Sheriff's car, climbing in the back and turning to face each other. Stiles brushed some twigs out of Harper's hair and looked at her worriedly.

"Stop it," Harper groaned, "stop feeling so worried about me all the time, Sti. I can look after myself."

"What? I'm not worried, I was just-" Stiles squeaked, only to have Harper cut him off.

"Stiles, even if I couldn't feel all of your anxiety right now then I would know you were worried about me- I can see it in your eyes." The Empath muttered, "and you don't have to worry- or send your dad out looking for me when he's off duty. I was fine, and I still am fine."

"Harper, you're not fine." Stiles whispered, his hand reaching out to cup her cheek, "you were shot, okay? You're bound to experience some mental trauma after that, especially due to your circumstances. You haven't properly spoken to me in ages, and I don't know what you're thinking. I can't read minds like you can."

The brunette closed her eyes briefly, processing all of his words. Everything he had said was true, and she honestly wanted to tell Stiles everything, but she didn't want him to feel like he had to look after her- he was her boyfriend, not her babysitter. She reached out and touched his hand, pulling it away from her face to hold it.

"I saw a coyote." She changed the subject, her tone light, "it fell asleep on me."

Stiles sighed, realising he wasn't going to get anything out of her, but went along with her new subject anyway.

"Oh, what, in your dream?" Stiles asked.

Harper shook her head quickly, "no, no. In real life, Sti. I was just sitting under the tree and it came up to me. I honestly thought it was gonna eat me but it just began to rub itself against me, like a cat would. Honestly." She claimed.

Stiles' eyebrows furrowed together, "babe, I think you might have dreamed it. I'm pretty sure a freaking coyote wouldn't have tried to get you to pet it like a cat." He told her softly.

"Nu-uh!" Harper protested like a three year old, "it did, I promise. It had really blue eyes and it totally licked my face."

"Then you totally need to wash it." Stiles teased, deciding to play along although he was almost sure she had dreamed her encounter with said coyote, "c'mon, let's get you home."

He went to wrap his arm around her shoulder, stopping when he remembered her sling. Instead, he settled for wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer into his chest.

...

"They keep staring at me," Harper spoke softly, looking down at her hands in her lap, "as soon as I walked into school, everybody began to whisper. Lots of people thought it was just a rumour that I was at the Sheriff's station with Matt, but when I turned up with my sling everybody realised it was true."

Morrell nodded, "do you dislike this new attention? How does it make you feel?"

Harper swallowed thickly, "I despise it. I guess you could say I've always had a knack for feeling people's emotions... and I all I can feel is their pity. I hate it so much. I heard people talking about my parents, too, about how they died. They don't realise I can hear them."

"How do you feel about what happened, Harper?" Ms Morrell asked.

"I feel like screaming." Harper admitted shakily, "everything is going wrong. My parents are dead, my grandma is gonna die in the next couple of months, I was shot, everyone at school is talking about me, my best friend's aren't talking to each other... the only normal thing in my life right now is Stiles and Lydia."

"Stiles Stilinski and Lydia Martin?"

Harper nodded. "Stiles has always been there for me, Lydia too."

"You sound like you have great friends." Morrell commented.

"I do," Harper smiled slightly, squeezing her hands together, "they're great. I couldn't ask for any better people."

"How have they been there for you?"

"Stiles and Lydia have been there every step of the way. Isaac and Erica visited me before they went missing along with Boyd. I saw Scott a couple of times, but he has his own problems. Allison has too, her mum died the same night of Lydia's party, so she has been dealing with that. I want to be there for her, but she's pushing everyone out."

Morrell didn't say anything for a second. "Any positives that came out of the situation?"

"Stiles' dad got his job back, which is great." Harper told the woman, "but that's about it."

"What about Matt Daehler?" Morrell pressed, staring at the teenage girl intently, "he drowned that night. Do you feel empathy for him?"

Harper scoffed at her wording, "I feel... nothing. Matt stalked me for months, killed innocent people, shot me, and held my friends and I hostage. He was mentally sick, and I feel bad that nobody cared enough to help him, but that's it."

Morrell pursed her lips together, "what about ten year old Matt? The Matt that drowned in the pool- do you feel sorry for him?"

"Like I said, I feel nothing." Harper admitted, "and I don't know if that's good or not. Should I feel sorry for him? Part of me wants to, to be a good person, but I can't bring myself to forgive him or feel sorry for him. Just cause a bunch of kids shoved him in a pool at a party... that gave him no right to kill people. A kid was orphaned because of him. I hate him."

"Hate is a strong word." Ms Morrell noted, "and the boy seemed to quite like you."

"He was a psychopath who needed help." Harper spat bitterly, "and I hate him with every fibre of my being for making me have to endure that. The entire time I was thinking about my mum and my dad. He didn't care when he shot me, he laughed when he brought them up before threatening to shoot Stiles. I hate him so much for what he did. How he left me so mentally unstable.

I'm a happy person, you know? It's not in my nature to be negative. I love to be the peace maker of the group, the one that everybody looks to for some good advice or motivation. So I hate that he made me the depressed, anxious one of the group. I hate that he brought out my true colours and he doesn't even have to pay for it." Harper scoffed, "he's dead, he doesn't have to pay for anything."

"That's a very brave thing to admit, Harper." Morrell nodded towards her, "does it feel good to get all of this off of your chest?"

Harper shrugged, her tears spilling over as her voice cracked and her face scrunched up, "I just want to be happy, but this... this just feels like hell."

Morrell stared back, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips, "then I'm going to tell you the exact same thing that I told Stiles less than an hour ago: "If you're going through hell, keep going."

...

"You excited?" Harper asked Stiles as she helped her grandma into the front of Stiles' jeep, moving to sit in the back.

Stiles sighed loudly, "it's not like I ever play."

Rose cooed, "aw, Stiles." Her bony hand reached out to pat the top of his, "one day you'll be able to play. I can have a word with your PE teacher, if you would like?"

Harper giggled, "it's not like that, grandma. High School is a lot different to primary school."

Stiles smiled in amusement, happy to see his girlfriend laugh genuinely as she looked at her through the mirror. He enjoyed watching her and her grandmother talk- which he had been doing a lot over the past week and a half since Harper was shot.

Stiles and Scott had found out that Rose was dying of stage four lung cancer when Harper was in hospital getting surgery.

Noah Stilinski and Melissa McCall had sat them both down outside the waiting room and told them as softly as they could, even getting a bit emotional.

Scott and Stiles were devastated. Rose had always been there for them as another mother figure, and she was going to die in the next few months. They also felt sorry for Harper- who would be left with no family once Rose was gone.

Once Melissa and Noah had left, Scott pulled Stiles aside to tell her that he already knew. Apparently, one of his powers as a werewolf was to be able to smell emotions, including illnesses. He could smell her cancer months ago, but he had no idea what it truly was until today.

Harper knew that her best friends now knew, but the three of them hadn't spoken about it. Nobody wanted to upset Harper, and Harper didn't know how to start. She didn't even know if she was coming back to Beacon Hills once her grandma died, which made everything a whole lot worse.

"But remember that time they wouldn't let you in the girls football club so I spoke to your teacher and they sorted it all out?" Rose smiled gently, "I could do it again."

Stiles scoffed slightly, "you did football?"

"British football, Sti, not your tackling, under arm rubbish." Harper rolled her eyes playfully.

The boy with the buzz cut held a hand to his chest as if offended, but quickly put it back on the steering wheel after.

"Don't worry about it, Rose." Stiles looked across at the old woman briefly, "I don't want to be on the team because someone pities me, I want to be on it because I'm good, anyway."

"Then you keep practicing, Stiles." Rose nodded, "and one day, you'll play. I promise,"


	48. Chapter 48

It was freezing when they had gotten out of the jeep. Stiles had given Harper a short kiss before rushing off to the changing rooms where Harper began to guide Rose towards the lacrosse field. The icy air bit at their cheeks as they walked in the dark, their only source of light coming from the lamp posts dotted around the school car park.

"You might need to fill me in on what's going on." Rose warned Harper with a chuckle, "I've never seen a lacrosse game before in my entire life."

Harper smiled, using her good arm to wrap it around her grandma's shoulders, "apologies in advance if my commentating is pretty bad, I've been watching it for the past two years and I still don't know the correct terminology for it."

Rose just laughed again as they made it to the field. The green area was lit up by the beaming lights surrounding it, and the bleachers were already half full with eager supporters of the Beacon Hills' lacrosse team.

Harper spotted Melissa and Noah sat together on one of the benches at the front and decided to go and sit with them. Melissa quickly stood up when she saw the two females approaching, a soft smile on her tan face.

"Harper, Rose." Scott's mum greeted them, giving them both a short hug, "are you excited to watch your first lacrosse game?"

Rose nodded, "I am. Will Scott be playing? Stiles said he won't be playing because he's not very good."

Noah just sighed.

"He's the captain, grandma." Harper reminded the old lady, "and Stiles is good, he just gets a little nervous and he doesn't have a very high self esteem, trust me."

Sheriff Stilinski smiled fondly at the teenage girl when Harper looked away, knowing instantly that Stiles was extremely lucky to have her. Of course Noah Stilinski had liked Harper since they met when she was only ten years old, but she just continued to make him even more proud of his son for loving someone like her.

Harper spotted Stiles and Scott enter the lacrosse field all geared up in their maroon unifrom and smiled slightly. Stiles always looked so handsome in his jersey. They sat on the bench and began to talk. She nudged her grandma and pointed at the two mentioned boys.

Rose gasped, "oh, look at them!" She cooed, "they look so grown up! I remember when they were only ten, bless them. Aren't they both handsome boys?"

Melissa chuckled as Harper groaned, realising her grandma was now going to go on with a speech about how Stiles and Scott were now men and how much they had grown.

"Oh, no. Why is my son running out to the field?" Harper's head shot up at Noah's words, her eyes widening when she saw Stiles by the goal in his helmet and with his lacrosse stick firmly grasped.

"Because he's on the team?" Melissa replied, amused.

"He is," Noah blinked, "he's on the team. He's- he's on the field." He stood up before yelling, "my son is on the field!"

Harper stood up, grinning proudly as she high fived Sheriff Stilinski, "hell yeah he is!"

The brunette sat down as a certain strawberry blonde began to walk up the steps of the bleachers, smiling sweetly at Harper as she sat down. Harper smiled back, patting Lydia's hand.

The referee suddenly blew the whistle on the field, and Harper's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion when she saw that Scott was still sat down on the bench. She frowned even further when she saw how anxious he looked, his face contorted into one of misery and desperation.

She stared at the back of his head and thought hard.

What am I gonna do?

Scott's voice invaded her thoughts, but she wasn't getting anything else out of his mind other than that one question. Harper excused herself before rushing down the steps, sitting down next to Scott and putting her hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump.

"What's going on?" She hissed, "why aren't you playing?"

Scott groaned, "I'm not allowed to play because of my grades, but that's not important. Gerard has control of the Kanima now, and he's threatening to kill somebody if I don't bring Derek to him in the last thirty seconds of the game."

Harper's eyes widened, "what? Do you even know where Derek is?"

Her gaze drifted over to Stiles as Scott shook his head, sighing loudly again as his leg bounced anxiously. The boy with the buzz cut had distanced himself from the other players, so when the ball dropped into the net of his lacrosse stick, he was more than overwhelmed.

He grinned, his hazel eyes looking up to find Harper, to make sure that she was watching him. Just as their eyes met, another lacrosse player came out of nowhere, tackling Stiles to the floor and landing right on top of him. The entire crowed winced as he went down, including Harper.

Scott noticed the worried look on her face and grabbed her hand. "He'll be fine, Harper." Scott soothed her wild thoughts, "I won't let Jackson hurt Stiles, I promise."

Harper gulped, but nodded anyway, squeezing his hand back before moving it to bite at her nails anxiously. She shoved her hand back into her lap when she realised what she was doing, looking back at her boyfriend with squinted eyes.

Stiles was mumbling something to himself as he scrambled to pick up the ball lying in the middle of the field. It took him about five whole seconds, and when he was finally successful, two players of the opposite team rammed into him again, sending him back down.

The crowd oohed once more and Scott winced, his head falling into his hands. Harper's heart ached for the boy on the field, knowing exactly how nervous he must be feeling. She played with her necklace as Stiles adjusted to catch a ball flying towards him, her face dropping when it hit him in the face and people began to boo.

She clenched her fists angrily, "Scott, you need to do something."

Scott nodded quickly, standing up. Coach Finstock suddenly came out of nowhere, pulling him back down and forcing him onto the bench.

"Sit down, McCall." He warned.

"But, Coach, we're dying out there." Scott pleaded desperately.

Coach scoffed, "oh, I'm aware of that." He slammed his hand down on Scott's shoulder, "now sit."

Isaac rushed over, sitting down on the other side of Harper, his helmet and gloves in his hands. He started to put his gloves on as if the two other teenagers weren't there, Scott staring at him in shock.

"You came to help." Scott gaped.

"I came to win." Isaac corrected Scott with a smirk, looking over at Gerard who was staring back at him from by the side of the bleachers.

Scott and Harper followed his gaze, Harper shooting the old man a middle finger.

"Harper!" Scott hissed, his larger hand quickly clamping over hers and pushing it down. Isaac chuckled, shaking his head.

"You got a plan yet?" Isaac asked as he put his second glove on.

"No," Scott huffed, "right now it's pretty much just keep Jackson from killing anyone."

Harper scoffed, "it would be easier if you were actually playing." She muttered under her breath, "stupid Coach."

Isaac thought for a second, "okay, so we have to make it so Coach has no choice but to play you."

"How?" Harper questioned, staring at the blue eyed boy intently. "He already has three substitues. Scott would go forth."

Isaac and Scott shared looks with wide eyes, causing Harper to frown.

"Uh, bloody hell. I'm not in the mood for this. Can somebody just tell me the plan instead of sharing mysterious glances with each other?" Harper complained, becoming fustrated.

"I'm gonna take out the team." Isaac rolled his eyes.

Scott looked at him worriedly, "can you do it without putting anyone in the hospital?"

Isaac exhaled deeply before putting on his helmet. "I can try."

The werewolf ran out onto the field, sending Jackson one of the biggest smirks Harper had ever seen before the game started. One by one, Isaac began to take out his own teammates, causing a very angry Coach to put his substitues in.

"Lahey," Coach yelled, pointing his finger, "seriously, what the hell is your problem?"

The whistle blew as Isaac sent him a shrug before running back into place. Harper chuckled, realising that Isaac wasn't so bad after all.

Suddenly, Jackson tackled Isaac to the ground, a loud crunch sounding throughout the air as Isaac fell to the ground, the crowd oohing. Harper winced as Scott jumped up, worriedly looking at Isaac. Jackson sent them a smirk, Harper instantly knowing that Gerard had caught onto what they were doing.

He was fighting back.

Scott rushed over to Isaac and Harper let out a loud sigh, thankful she had been able to keep herself from connecting to him. Coach walked over, shoving a helmet into Scott's hands. Upon realising that Scott had gotten his way, Harper rushed back up to her grandma and Lydia.

"Sorry about that," Harper smiled at them all nervously as the game jumped back into action.

Scott and Stiles were sent down pretty quickly, but got back up, rushing around with the ball. The game was quick and Harper didn't know where the ball was half of the time, but she kept her eyes on on her two boys and Jackson, making sure he went nowhere near them.

At some point, Harper noticed that Scott wasn't on the field anymore and neither was Gerard. Coach began to yell for him, but the werewolf was nowhere to be seen. Harper quickly searched for Stiles, her heartbeat calming down a little upon seeing him away from the other players, and alive.

The ball rolled over towards his feet and he stared down at it with wide eyes. Harper sat on the edge of her seat as Stiles looked around for a few seconds before scooping the ball up in his net and running towards the goal. She played with her hands anxiously, praying for the best.

Everyone was chasing after him as he screamed, stopping in front of the goal and looking behind him. Harper knew that he was terrified of messing up the shot, so he was frozen.

"Stilinski!" Coach screamed, "shoot it! Shoot the ball! Shoot it you idiot!"

Harper quickly stood up, cupping her hands together around her mouth and yelling, "you can do it, Stiles!"

That was all he needed. Harper's voice. Her reassurance and belief in him.

Stiles raised his lacrosse stick before hurling it forwards, the ball going straight into the back of the net of the goal. The crowd erupted into cheers, but Harper was the loudest and proudest of them all. She stood up and began to jump and up and down with Lydia.

"I scored a goal!" Stiles yelled blissfully, raising his hands in the air as he looked over at Harper, "I scored a goal!"

Stiles scored another goal soon after, and Harper jumped up again, tears of happiness in her eyes as she cheered for him along with everyone else. Words could not describe how happy and proud she was of her boyfriend for doing what he had always dreamed of doing.

The hazel eyed boy scored another goal, and then another one, and then another one. Harper was standing up for every single one, her throat raw from cheering him on. Every single time the ball went in the goal, Stiles would immediately turn to grin at his girlfriend, no matter how many lacrosse players were surrounding him to congratulate him.

Just the look on her face and the way her eyes stared proudly back at him was enough to make him want to score a hundred more goals.

The final buzz sounded throughout the field, causing everyone to jump up and cheer. The game was over and Beacon Hills had won- all thanks to Stiles Stilinski. Harper forgot all about Gerard's promise, until the lights to the pitch turned off and everybody began to scream.

Harper was shoved away from her grandma quickly, causing her to panic. Rose was in barely any condition to come out in the freezing cold anyway, but she had insisted that she wanted to see Scott and Stiles play before she passed away.

"Grandma!" Harper screamed, "Grandma!"

Harper squinted her eyes when she saw somebody lying in the middle of the field, her heart dropping when she saw the lacrosse uniform. She felt bile rise in her throat and her heart stop, her brown eyes filling with tears.

"Stiles!" She chocked, staggering forwards, pushing the people surrounding the body away to get in front.

She was filled with a sick amount of relief when she realised that it wasn't her boyfriend but Jackson Whittemore herself. Her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion and she froze for a second, stunned into silence. A feeling spread through her body that she couldn't describe before she slowly began to walk backwards, her eyes only leaving Jackson's dead body when she was out of the circle.

"Stiles! Grandma!" She called again, worriedly.

Rose appeared by Harper's side when the lights switched on, her face completely worried. "Did- did you see that boy on the field? Are you friends with him?" Rose stressed.

"Have you seen Stiles?" Harper questioned her worriedly, ignoring her previous questions, "oh my god, grandma. I can't find him."

"Hey, hey, hey." Rose grabbed her good arm, "he's probably just freaked out and ran off somewhere. Go ask Noah, I'll wait here."

Harper nodded, swallowing thickly and biting her lip as she rushed over to Noah. As soon as she appeared in front of him he grabbed her arm like her grandma had done moments before.

"Have you seen Stiles?!" They both questioned at the same time, eyes wide and frantic.

"Oh my God." Harper cried, "Stiles is gone!"


	49. Chapter 49

"I got to meet with the medical examiner and try to figure out what happened with Jackson." Sheriff Stilinski told Scott, Isaac, and Harper, "I've got an APB out on Stiles. His jeep is still in the parking lot, so that means..."

Noah became to emotional to finish his sentence, quickly blinking away the burning tears in his eyes and looking away from the teenagers. Harper sent him a sympathetic look from where she was holding onto Scott's arm for comfort. It was hard to explain, but Harper felt like she knew Stiles was okay- for now at least.

She didn't know how to tell Noah this, since she was pretty sure it was an Empath feeling.

"Well, I don't know what that means. Um..." Sheriff Stilinski took a deep breath, "look, if he answers his phone, if he answers his emails, if any of you three see him..."

"We'll call you." Isaac reassured him quietly.

Scott spoke up, "look, he's probably just freaked out from all the attention or something. We'll find him."

Noah pursed his lips together before nodding, "yeah. I'll see you, okay? Harper, I'm dropping your grandma back home. Make sure you get home safe."

"Thank you, and please text me if he comes home." Harper looked at him pleadingly.

Noah nodded once more before turning and walking away from the teenagers, out of the locker rooms that were currently busy. Boys were getting changed while police officers interviewed them on what had happened to Jackson on the field, and where Stiles had gone.

According to Scott and Isaac, Gerard had commanded Jackson to kill himself out on the field. Jackson's claws had come out only to go straight into his own stomach, killing him almost instantly. Harper thought it was absolutely sick what Gerard had done, and now she was even more thirsty for revenge.

Jackson may have been one of the biggest douchebags going, but he certainly didn't deserve this.

"McCall." Coach Finstock wandered over, a more gentle approach to his naturally loud voice, "we need you on the team, okay? You know I can't put you on the field next season if you don't get your grades up."

Scott gave a short nod, "yeah, I know, Coach."

"All right." Coach turned around before hesitating and turning back to face them, "I mean, I-I know I yell a lot, but it's not like I hate you guys. Well, I kind of hate Greenberg, but, you know, that's different. It's Greenberg. I'm just saying we... I need you on the team. Get your grades back up."

"I will."

"I know." Coach nodded before leaving.

"Is everyone gone?" Harper questioned as soon as the door had closed behind the middle aged man.

Isaac took a step forward and sighed, "I think so."

The sound of metal being twisted came from behind Harper and Isaac, causing them to jump. Harper turned around to see Stiles' locker on the door and raised her eyebrows, knowing that when he came back he was not going to be happy with Scott.

Before she could scold him for his over dramatic ways, a light purple mist began to pool around her feet, causing her eyes to widen. Without a word, she began to slowly follow it, seeing that it was leading out of the changing room doors. Isaac and Scott didn't notice, too busy bickering over who got to smell Stiles' shoe and who got to smell his shirt.

Harper's eyes were wide and attached the mysterious fog, as if she was in some sort of trance. She was so mesmarised by it that she didn't even see Derek and a very alive Peter Hale walking down the hall.

Derek's dark eyebrows furrowed together at her state. "Harper? What are you-"

Peter hushed him, his arm flinging out against his nephew's chest to stop him from approaching Harper. "Don't disturb her, she's having an Empathic moment." Peter watched in amusement, a sick smirk on his face.

"An Empathic moment?" Derek scoffed, looking at his uncle in disbelief as the teenage girl slowly got further and further away.

Peter chuckled, "I think she's going to go and find Stiles."

...

Harper threw the teenage boy's door open without even knocking, her body going through at such force far she toppled over.

She landed on the carpeted ground with a thump, causing Stiles to jump up from his bed and let out a girly shriek. Harper jumped up, her eyes wide as she grabbed his shoulder with her good arm, stopping him from hitting her before he realised who she was.

Her face fell when she took in his appearance. He had changed into a grey Adidas shirt and some jogging bottoms, but his entire cheek bone was bruised up. His lip had been cut and he looked paler than usual. His face softened when she threw her arms around him, letting out a few tears.

"I was so worried about you." Harper sniffled into his chest, "are you okay? Gerard did this, didn't he? I'm gonna kill him!"

"Hey, hey, hey." Stiles pulled away from the hug, his hands reaching to cup her face, "I'm fine, okay? Gerard just beat me up a little after the game, but I'm good now. Barely even hurts,"

Harper's face crumbled, "Stiles, I know when you're lying, remember?" Her voice broke as she spoke, unable to stand to see her boyfriend in pain.

The thought of Stiles being physically or mentally in pain was enough to make Harper want to wrap him up in bubble wrap and never let him leave her side. She knew that he wasn't okay- that he was shaken up from whatever Gerard had done to him, and she needed him to talk to her about it.

Stiles sighed, "please don't cry, Harper. I can't stand seeing you upset."

"I can't stand seeing you suffer in silence, Stiles." Harper grabbed his hands, "just tell me what you're thinking, don't make me read your mind."

Stiles huffed, pulling away his hands and sitting down on his bed, running his palms across his face. Harper watched wearily, worried that she had been too straight forward or snappy with him.

"Stiles?"

"I was really scared." He admitted suddenly, "I was scared he was gonna kill me, or beat me up even worse. And my priorities may be a little messed up here, but I was even more worried about you."

"Me?" Harper scoffed.

"Yes, you." Stiles muttered, "I was so scared that I'd never see you again, or if they killed me how you'd be. You were all that was on my mind, just like always."

Harper stared at him in awe, "you were all that I was thinking about, too." She told him gently, "and I think I was kind of connected to you in a way. I knew that you weren't in a life threatening situation, you know? Don't get me wrong, I was still completely and utterly terrified. And then this purple mist... it lead me straight to you."

"You followed it?" Stiles questioned.

Harper nodded, "that's how I'm here."

Stiles ran a hand through his short hair, grumbling something under his breath that Harper couldn't pick up before moving to the bathroom. He came back a second later and passed her some toilet roll.

"I, ur, I don't have any tissues left, so, um, here." Stiles gave her it awkwardly, "it's kind of hard to take you seriously when your mascara is all around your eyes."

Harper's fingers went to touch her under eyes, and when she pulled away they were slightly stained. She chuckled slightly, passing him the toilet roll back.

"Trust me," she muttered, "I'm gonna need more than a tissue to get this mascara off."

Stiles nodded, scratching the back of his neck, "right."

"Why are you acting so awkward all of a sudden?" Harper suddenly demanded to know, "as soon as I said I came to get you, you freaked out."

Stiles looked down at the floor, "it's stupid."

Harper chuckled dryly, "Stiles, you have known me for six years. You have listened to all of my stupid, pathetic problems for every single one of them. I have listened to your Star Wars rants, and your anti-Harris club idea- nothing you say will sound stupid to me."

Stiles looked up from the floor, his hazel eyes meeting hers. Harper could feel his love, his passion, his admiration, everything- and it was all for her.

"I love you so much." He mumbled, quickly moving in.

Their lips brushed against each other, before Harper edged closer and grabbed the back of his neck with her good arm, pulling him further towards her. Stiles sighed into the kiss as her hand cupped his bruised cheek gently, his own hands settling around her waist comfortably. Just as he moved to brush some of her hair away, Harper's phone buzzed loudly from beside them.

Her hand reached to grab it, only for Stiles' larger one to plant over hers. He pulled away from the kiss slightly, still only a couple of inches apart.

"Ignore it." He mumbled, planting a kiss on the corner of her mouth, "it's probably just Scott wondering how I am. He's called me, like, a hundred times."

Harper rolled her eyes and chuckled a little, "well, then, maybe it would be nice to let your best friend know that you're okay and not half dead." She suggested, pecking his lips once more before grabbing her phone.

Stiles groaned in defeat, "seriously, Scott is such a mood ruiner. One day I'm gonna-"

"Stiles." Harper looked up from the phone, worried, "you're gonna wanna read this."

The hazel eyed boys eyebrows immediately furrowed together as he took the phone from Harper's hands, reading it the text message from Scott.

Scott: Jackson not dead. Need to bring him back by special connection before he goes psycho.

"Special connection?" Stiles repeated, confused, "like an Empath connection?"

Harper shook her head, "I don't know-"

The brunette was cut off by Stiles' bedroom door being knocked on loudly. Stiles huffed, figuring it was his dad, and yanked the door open. Both teenagers were surprised to see an upset Lydia Martin on the other side of the door, her strawberry blonde hair messier than usual and her eyes and nose red from crying.

"Lydia?" Harper questioned, standing up from the bed, "what are you doing here?"

The strawberry blonde just held up her phone, "I know how to save Jackson."

Stiles and Harper's eyes widened considerably at the sight of the very same text message that Harper had received from Scott on Lydia's phone. Harper knew that Lydia wasn't stupid and completely oblivious, but she just thought Lydia thought they were just weird.

"You know?" Stiles grabbed her arm, pulling her into the room and closing the door behind her so that his dad wouldn't hear them talking, "how much do you know?"

Lydia rolled her eyes at him, "I know bits and pieces. Most of it feels like a dream." She muttered, "but I know how to help Jackson. I need you two to take me to him."

Harper's brows furrowed, "Lydia, are you sure? How do-"

"I've never been so sure about anything in my life." The strawberry blonde confirmed, "and I just know, okay? I'm his last hope."

"Okay," Harper nodded quickly, "Stiles, you'll drive-"

"I think you should stay behind, Harper." Stiles interrupted her, "you'd be safer here, and you can't do any more damage to your shoulder."

Lydia's eyes softened a little at the look on Harper's face. The green eyed girl nodded along, causing the Empath to scoff.

"I'm not staying behind, Stiles." She sent him a small glare, "I'm not as weak as you think, honestly."

Stiles ran a hand through his buzz cut, "Harper-"

"Don't," The brunette hissed, holding a finger up to his face, "I am just as involved in this mess as you are. You can't decide whether I come along or not."

Lydia looked down at her feet awkwardly, feeling the tension in the room continue to grow as the couple became more and more frustrated with each other. She muttered something about waiting by the jeep before quickly leaving the room, shutting the door behind her.

Stiles pursed his lips together, "Harper, please, just listen to me, okay? I don't want you to get hurt. I don't think you realise how every single time you're injured, how- how much it pains me. It's like the worst freaking pain ever right in my chest- right where my heart is. Because seeing you in pain makes my heart want to freaking collapse, okay? Seeing you get shot was the last straw, Harper. If- if you die- if you die, I will go out of my mind. I will go freaking crazy, Harper. I couldn't go on without you, you're- you're the best thing that has ever happened to me. Ever."

Towards the end of Stiles' passionate speech, he had began to start yelling, causing Harper to flinch back slightly. Upon noticing this, Stiles' entire face softened and his hand slowly reached out, cupping Harper's cheek. She closed her eyes but allowed him.

"I- I love you so much." He whispered, his voice breaking slightly, "and Jackson- Jackson's dangerous. He could kill you, Harper."

Harper opened her eyes, tears spilling as she shook her head, "he won't." Her hand reached to rest on top of his, "I can look after myself. And, you'll protect me, Stiles."

Stiles scoffed, "I can't protect you. I'm not like Scott. I'm not a hero."

Harper's arms went around his neck as she hummed, "you know, this reminds me a lot of the conversation that we had when Scott went onto the bus a few months ago and we sat in the jeep."

"I'm not gonna-"

"Stiles. Do you trust me?" Harper asked.

Stiles huffed. "Of course I trust you."

"We're going to be okay."

...

"I'm gonna go through the wall." Stiles yelled above the sound of the revving engine to the two teenage girls, "put your seatbelts on."

Harper's eyes widened, "Stiles, you can't-"

"Is your seatbelt on?"

"Yes, but-"

The jeep suddenly took off and went straight through the wall in front of them. Harper and Lydia screamed at the top of their lungs as Stiles scrunched his eyes shut, preparing for the impact. Surprisingly, Harper felt no pain as they crashed through- bricks flying everywhere and the sound of brakes squealing filling her ears.

Stiles opened one eye, "did I get him?" He panted through heavy breaths.

Harper unbuckled her belt from the backseat, "oh my God, I should have just stayed home." She ran a hand through her hair just as the Kanima jumped on the bonnet of the jeep.

Lydia shrieked and Stiles let out the girliest scream ever as Harper scrambled forwards, pushing her boyfriend out of the car. The strawberry blonde climbed out her side of the jeep, Harper quickly following close behind.

"Jackson!" Lydia yelled at the Kanima, "Jackson!"

Stiles tugged Harper behind Scott and himself, keeping his promise of keeping her safe- not that Harper needed it- she just didn't protest, since she didn't want to hurt his masculinity. Harper watched her best friend worriedly.

Just then did she notice Gerard on the floor, black blood surrounding him. Allison stood a few meters away by her dad, bloody daggers by her feet, Isaac and Derek looking rather beaten up nearby. There must have been some kind of battle that took place before they had arrived.

Lydia reached into her pocket and held up a key- her key to Jackson's house. The Kanima paused, it's yellow reptilian eyes staring at the key in a mixture of wonder and confusion. The strawberry blonde began to cry as the Kanima slowly began to turn back to Jackson, his clawed hand reaching out and taking the key from her loose grip.

Jackson's eyes turned back to their normal green, and he stared between the metallic object in his hands and Lydia. He stumbled back, only a few scales on his face now.

Suddenly, Peter came out from behind some wooden crates, and Derek scrambled up off of the floor. The two werewolves both shifted, their claws going straight through Jackson's stomach and back. Jackson began to cough as they lifted him up off of the ground, holding him in the air for a few seconds before dropping him.

Lydia gasped loudly, rushing forwards and grabbing him before he could fall on the ground. She began to sob as she lowered him to his knees, his breathing scratchy and heavy. Their eyes never left each others.

"Do you-" Jackson managed in a whisper, "do you still-"

Lydia cut him off, "I do," she cried, nodding quickly as tears spilled down her pale cheeks, "I do still love you. I do, I do still love you. I do."

Jackson only gave a short nod before his head fell forwards, landing on her shoulder with his eyes closed. Lydia grabbed his hair gently, letting out another sob.

Harper sniffled from beside Stiles, holding onto his arm tighter. As much as she had disliked Jackson in the past, she had never ever wanted to see him die- let alone twice in one day. And it hurt her to see Lydia in such devastation too.

The key fell from Jackson's hand, clattering onto the ground. Lydia sobbed louder, laying Jackson down on the cold concrete ground beneath them, her hands moving to his head as she cried, hiding her face in his bare chest.

"Where's Gerard?" Allison suddenly questioned from beside Scott, pointing over to where his body had been before.

Now there was just a jacket and some black blood.

"He can't be far," Chris Argent reminded her before everyone turned back to Lydia and Jackson.

Lydia stood up, tears streaming down her face as she began to make her way over to the group. Harper let go of Stiles' arm, about to move to hug her when the sound of nails scraping on the floor filled everybody's ears. The Empath's eyes widened when she saw Jackson's hand closing into a fist.

Jackson's eyes suddenly shot open, but this time they were electric blue like Derek's. He took his time dramatically getting up, his back arching and his face shifting into the one of a werewolf's. He suddenly let out a roar, causing Stiles to take Harper's hand and pull her back slightly.

Once he had finished, Lydia dashed forwards, wrapping him in one of the tightest hugs that Harper had ever seen. Jackson hugged her back, his eyes wide with confusion and relief.


	50. Chapter 50

Stiles parked the jeep in front of the airport, his hands shaking a little bit as tears brimmed his eyes. Nobody's eyes were dry within the jeep, and everybody was feeling extremely distraught.

He climbed out of the jeep, Harper and Scott climbing out of the backseats from behind him. Scott, being the gentleman he was, went around and opened the car door for Rose. The old woman grinned at him.

"Oh, Scott." She grabbed his hand as he helped her down since the jeep was pretty high up off of the ground, "thank you, my dear."

Scott smiled weakly, "that's okay, Rose." He wrapped an arm over her shoulder while Stiles and Harper walked around to the boot of the car.

Stiles opened it up and Harper grabbed her suitcase, huffing as she picked it up and placed it down on the ground. The boy with the buzz cut grabbed Rose's suitcase. It depressed Harper how much smaller Rose's was to hers.

It also depressed her when she remembered that this was the last time Scott and Stiles would ever see Rose, and that the next time she would be back in Beacon Hills it would be without her. She was trying to make the most of everything.

"Our planes in an hour, grandma." Harper reminded Rose, knowing how she always had to be early for everything, or she stressed, "do you have your passport ready?"

Rose nodded, "yes." She patted the large pocket in her cardigan.

"I guess this is it then." Scott sighed sadly as they stood in the entrance of the large airport.

Stiles was the first to wrap Rose in a tight hug, being careful not to hurt her. He bent down so he was her height, resting his chin on her shoulder as Rose patted his back. He remembered Rose's hugs from when he was younger. Every time he fell over, Rose would give him a hug, since she had convinced him that her hugs made everyone feel better.

It was still somewhat true. Stiles felt better in her embrace, because at least while she was in his arms she wasn't in Brighton dying. He didn't want Rose to die- she was like a mother figure to him and the kindest person he knew after Harper. He also didn't want Rose to die for Harper's sake. He didn't want Harper to be alone.

When he pulled away, they both had tears in their eyes. "You be good, okay Stiles?" She told him, patting his shoulder, "you keep my Harper safe, and don't break her heart okay? You remind her not to be upset about me, okay? Be. Her. Anchor."

Stiles was a little thrown off by Rose's last three words, but he nodded quickly anyway, "of course. Of course." He couldn't seem to get any of the words that he wanted to say out. There was a lump in his throat that he couldn't get rid of.

Then it was Scott's turn.

Scott hugged Rose tight, afraid to let her go. Everybody loved Rose, and Scott was no exception. He had liked her as soon as she gave him cookies when he was only ten years old. When she told him that it was okay to cry over his dad, when she taught him how to bake, when she covered for him in hide and seek games, when she helped him with projects at school while his mum was busy at the hospital.

He had a soft spot for Rose, so it wasn't a surprise when he started to cry into her shoulder. This was the last time he would ever see her, the last time he would ever hug her, the last time she would ever speak to him in person. Rose tutted and began to rub his back while he cried.

"You be good, Scott." She hummed gently, "you look after your mum, and Harper, and Stiles, and that Allison girl, even if you are broken up. I don't want you to cry yet, I'm not even gone. And when I am in heaven, remember that I'm with my husband and my daughter, so I'm happy, okay?"

Harper was tearing up she watched them, "I need to go to the bathroom quickly." She pecked Stiles' cheek before quickly leaving.

Rose sniffled as she pulled away from the oldest teenager. "You boys need to look after Harper. Look out for her like you did when she was younger, even if she tells you to go away. She'll be angry and sad and confused when she gets back, but please don't get fustrated with her or dissapointed when she isn't the same.

"You need to love her unconditionally, remind her you're not going anywhere, do anything it takes to reassure her. Please. I have written letters for both of you and give them to your dad and your mum. They'll give them to you when I'm gone, okay?

"I need you both to be strong. For me, for Harper, and for yourselves. Please." She watched them sadly as they struggled to keep their tears in.

They both nodded and shared a group hug. Harper came back from the bathroom and squeezed her way into the middle, just like they had done when Rose made spaghetti for them all the day after Peter attacked them at the school. The hugged for a good few minutes.

Until, eventually, it was time to go.

FINISHED 22:25PM 14/10/17

**Author's Note:**

> thanks sm for reading!! <3


End file.
